The Changing of a Beast
by I believe in myths
Summary: She is a Beast, a weapon. Since she was a young child, Cara has been forced to do whatever her Masters wished. Her whole life changes after the Team stops a drug cartel. Everything she knew about the world is changed. First season characters only. Temporary hiatus
1. Chapter One

**Here's the team! I will try my best to portray it in the same way that the show does. Also, now it gets kind of awkward. I hope it's a 'nice' awkward though. Does that make sense? Oh well, even if it doesn't make sense to you, it makes sense to me. It guess that should could for something. So I had this written but then I didn't like it. So here's 4.1**

 **OUTSIDE OF CASPER, WYOMING.**

 **March 30, 13:45 EST**

The shadows sprawled through the night like a parasitical disease, cloaking everything it came in contact to with darkness. The sky was dark, it was a cloudy new moon - perfect for their current mission. The only light in the area came from the lone warehouse. Even then, only tiny inklings of light filtered through the blinds. Two figures were crouched on an overlooking hill, using the current darkness to their advantage. When of them was significantly larger than the other - both in muscle and in height. The smaller one had a cape wrapped around his shoulders matching the mask he wore in color.

Without speaking audibly, he relayed to the boy beside him; the two were telepathically linked, along with the rest of their team. "Is he in there?"

The more muscular of the two blinked before squinting at the warehouse in front of them. All of a sudden, his normal vision was replaced with that of the pink tinted x-ray vision - a gift from one of his genetic sponsors. He was about to return to his normal 'human' vision before he noticed something strange in a corner of the room that the smuggler, Ramón, was in.

However, he didn't report it. "He has about ten armed men - they look normal besides each of them having a gun."

There was a moment of silence before Robin spoke. Aqualad was out patrolling with Aquaman. Therefore, Robin was the next logical candidate for leadership. "We'll continue with the normal plan. Artemis, you're with Kid Flash. M'gann, you're with me and Superboy." He waited a moment before giving them the all clear.

As if a gun was shot, the five of them sprang into action. They were a team and their actions showed it. Artemis and Kid Flash burst in through the main entrance. Half of the armed combatants left their original post to oppose the costumed heroes. The other half, however, stayed. Superboy quickly relayed this information to Robin.

In unison, Robin, Superboy, and M'gann snuck into the back of the warehouse, cloaked by M'gann's Martian talents. They landed quietly, moving around to form a loose semi-circle around Ramón. The armed men sprang into action the moment M'gann let down her grip. While fighting the men, the majority of the group didn't notice the weapon dealer run through a door, towards the back of the warehouse.

The girl in the cage heard the door open. Carefully, she sat up and listened. The fight outside had woken her up from her nap and she was curious as to what was going on. Between the noise of gunshots, she could hear Master's heavy footsteps. The door opened and closed quietly. The boy that had come in cackled before hiding himself in the shadows. Through the cover of her cage she could hear Master's heavy footsteps running towards her. She could smell his fear. Apparently, whoever was fighting them were _good_.

Master pulled the cover up slightly so he could jam the key into the lock. He cursed as his shaking hands missed the lock. "Prepárate." She shifted into an Asian Leopard Cat and prepared to pounce the moment that her cage was unlocked. However, before the door could be opened, Master yelped. He was dragged away from the cage and the cover fell back into place. Hesitantly, she shifted back into her human form. She heard the door open again and could smell three people enter the room. She bit her lip as she heard an extra pair of foot steps.

"You guys okay?" It was a young boy. _Hair gel, French cologne, and Sweat,_ her nose informed her. "I got the dealer. We need to get all the weapons onto the ship so we can get them back to the cave."

The scentless one spoke next. "There's someone else in here. I can hear her."

The room went quiet and she shuffled uncomfortably. After a few minutes, she could hear the group surrounding her cage. Were they going to hurt her? She could understand that. Often, after she was first stolen, her new owners would beat her so she would know who was boss. She started to shake as the group came closer.

"KF, look out!" There was a scuffle of movement, a curse in Spanish, and then it went quiet again. Two people stayed by her covered cage while the other three moved towards Master.

"What is this? Is it like for a bomb or something?" She heard the click of metal against fingernails and she winced.

"I won't tell you anything, chica. Why don't you press the button and find out what it is." Master -er, her old Master- laughed. She heard a few light footsteps and then a girl spoke.

"You know how you said you could hear another person in here. This is for... it."

"Artemis, hand me the remote please. M'gann, is _it_ in the cage?"

Then it went silent. She heard the group surround her and she winced. Suddenly, the cover on her cage fluttered, than began to float upwards.


	2. Chapter Two

**I'm sorry this took so long. My aunt visited us from Virginia and I got not one - but two stomach bugs! . (Stupid babysitting.) Anyway, I feel like this chapter is pretty weak. I know it's short too. I'm sorry. I just want to say thanks for all the support I've gotten for this story!**

Beast blinked her gold eyes once, then twice again as the bright light hit her. The mixed group in front of her stared at her. Her eyes immediately found the one that was her new Master. She started to memorize her new Master's appearance. Black hair, short, and thin. Even though he was the smallest member, he carried himself in a different, more confident way.

"Is she a hostage? I mean, she is in a cage." The green-skinned girl flew slightly towards the trapped… thing in front of her. Beast's old master laughed almost hysterically. Quickly, the girl with the bow and arrows drew her weapon and aimed it at the man cautiously.

"That is not a hostage, imbécil. That is a weapon. Do not let her fool you." The group sent each other concerned looks before the green girl approached her old master. She laid a hand on his bare head and the man's eyes rolled into the back of his head and he collapsed limply onto the ground.

The shortest member, her Master, approached Beast carefully, eyebrows scrunched together in concentration as he thought. He studied her with the same calculating gaze that she studied her prey. She averted her eyes carefully and attempted to make herself appear smaller. The bulky, black haired teen cuffed her old master.

"Uh," Her new Master said awkwardly, "What's your name?"

Oh. This questionnaire may be easier than she thought. She _knew_ the answer to this question. It had been ingrained to her core since her first master - and no one had let her forget it since then. "My title is Beast but I will answer to any name Master chooses to give me."

At the reaction she received from Master and his friends that was not the right thing to say. The group exchanged worried glances. She grimaced and bent her head down lower, to protect it from any blows that might come. To her surprise, none came. Carefully, Master asked another question, concerned by her sudden flinch. "What do you mean by 'master'?"

She thought carefully. If her last rehearsed answer didn't please Master, would this one? With every new master she had, it was like walking on thin ice. You had to learn through trial and error. And, as she knew, it was mostly error. Beast licked her lips as she thought about what she was going to say. "You hold the remote and have beat my last Master. Whoever holds the remote is my Master."

Her Master schooled his reaction. Instead of replying, he flipped his hand and a lock picking device sprung out of his glove. He approached her wordlessly though his facial expressions and the facial expressions of his friends were as if they were having a conversation. Her cage was unlocked and opened; her Master stepped back out of the entrance way.

She didn't move. Was this a test? A lot of her previous masters had given her tests like this. If she left the cage without her Master's permission, she would be punished. She glanced at Master quickly, trying to judge his intent.

"You can come out, you know, We're not going to hurt you." She sent a look to the boy who had spoken. He was dressed even more strangely than Master. With a yellow and red spandex suit, he was definitely making a statement. Even with her limited knowledge of the 'outside world', she could tell that this was not a normal outfit. The only one that was wearing anything 'normal' was a bulky teen.

However, he was not her master. Only _he -_ her Master - could give her commands in times like this. Beast sent an inquiring look to the preteen, who cocked his head at her curiously before seeming to understand. Master nodded and she scrambled out of the cage. Her muscles ached as she stood up. Her cage was small - too small, really - and she was grateful to be out of it.

"Follow me, B." Master spoke and she realized that this was the name she was going to have - at least for a little while anyway. She scrambled to follow Master. Even though her Master was short, she estimated she was even shorter. She followed them out of the warehouse into the empty docks beyond. She blinked as her golden eyes adjusted to the darkness. Sending a look around, she realized that there was no vehicle to take her away. She had barely had a new Master and he was weird - weirder than any of her old masters already.

A strange looking plane materialized, hovering a little way above the docks. A staircase extended down from the ship and the group sans her Master walked into it. She watched her Master warily. Was she to go in the area where the rest of them would be or was she to be placed in the cargo area?

"Go in, B." She dipped her head and entered the dark plane.


	3. Chapter Three

**If you guys can't tell, I'm not great at naming chapters. Oh well. Here is the long awaited chapter (and it's good sized too)! Huzzah! (No one even says 'huzzah' anymore though...)**

The plane was dark and slightly warm. Even so, she shivered. This was a new Master- a new life! She stood in the main room awkwardly. Master entered in behind her and sat down in one of the chairs. "You can sit too, B."

Her Master hadn't brought her cage. It was still in the warehouse. Where was she supposed to sit? She sat right where she had been standing.

Apparently, she was wrong. Again. The green-skinned girl looked worried, "Beast, you can sit in a chair. You don't have to sit on the floor."

Beast looked to her Master. He nodded, his face knitted together in a strange emotion like one of the people she had been ordered to… end. Even with a mask, this Master showed so many more emotions than any of her previous masters. At his nod, she moved to the empty chair and strapped herself in.

Half hour into the flight, her Master stood up. "Look, B, we're going to some place secret so you're going to have to be blindfolded, okay?" It made sense. If she was to be captured or sold, her current Master would not like to be found. If she knew anything about them, she would be obligated to tell if a new Master asked. Her Master hesitated, the blindfold held in his hands. What was he waiting for? His face flashed with indecision. Whatever it was, he gave up waiting for it and tied the cloth around her face. She felt her heart race a little harder and her breathing come out a little faster. She gulped in air and tried to calm herself. It was just cloth.

She hated to admit it, but she _hated_ having her vision removed. Heck, she hated having any of her senses removed. She _knew_ she wasn't supposed to have preferences but she _couldn't help it_. If a Master was to find out- oh, she couldn't even finish the thought. No, she was to keep this to herself. _Especially_ in front of a new Master.

Soon after, her nose and ears told her that they had landed. The scents of machines, salt, cookies(?), and sweat infiltrated her nose and she wrinkled it, slightly confused at the unfamiliar smell. She had smelled it only a few times before on jobs but that was all. The smell of salt also threw her off guard. Were they near the ocean? Her ears told her that her Master and his friends were unbuckled.

The blindfold was removed and she almost smiled. _Finally!_ The room she was in was strange - nearly as strange as the plane. The roof was high and round, like the inside of a cave. She moved to stand after an indication was given. She followed her Master out into the cave-like room. Most of her Master's friends were in it; only the boy with the silly spandex had gone.

"So," the blonde girl said, almost conversationally, "What are we going to tell Bats?"

Master sent the blonde an annoyed look before glancing to Cara. The strange, no-talking conversations from earlier were back. Cara waited patiently, her eyes roaming around the room, trying to memorize it. A strange smell wafted in while her Master was having the silent conversation. To her indignation, Cara's stomach growled. She bit her lip, hoping that her Master or his friends had not heard her stomach. She began to shake. Hadn't she messed up enough already?

The strangely dressed boy from earlier was back, but this time he held a bowl in his hands. The group turned to him, held a short silent conversation, and then the red and yellow boy turned to her. Carefully, as if she were a wild animal, he approached her. He used Master's nickname.

"Hey, B, are you hungry?" He asked. Cara hesitated. Was this another test? Gah! Why were these guys so difficult to understand? At least her old masters, harsh though they may be, she _knew_ what was expected. With these guys though, she didn't know anything and it was only her first day with them. Why were they so... weird? She stood their silently in her indecision. The boy seemed to be disappointed with her lack of response.

"I'm Kid Flash," he held the bowl out to her. She nodded softly and looked to her Master, who nodded. She took the bowl and began to eat it, ignoring the spoon to gulp the soup down. She could feel everyone watching her and it made her nervous. When she had finished the soup the boy, Kid Flash, took it and sped away. His name was slightly familiar, though she couldn't place it.

"B," Master addressed her. She turned to look at his feet immediately. "We're going to take you to meet someone, okay? His name is Batman. We're going to need you to be honest with him. Is that okay?"

She stared at her Master before nodding slowly. The name he had mentioned sounded familiar to her. Her Master nodded and led her through a short hallway into a large room. The room made her feel tiny. The ceiling was high though a large, strange cone came down from it. On the left wall (if it could be called that) strange circles were planted into the walls. A dim, blue glow came from inside the circles. Her Master stopped on a low, circular platform. In the center, a tall, bulky man clad in black stood stiffly. Why were all these people dressed so strangely? Sure, she couldn't really say anything on the matter of _looks_. She almost snorted. Her, saying someone looked weird? She couldn't really say anything. Her tail flicked as she thought about it.

The man, who was probably Batman, approached them and stared at him. Her shoulders hunched and she averted her eyes to the floor. This man was _scary_. The alpha waves crashed over her. When he spoke, his voice was deep but not... harsh. Which was, needless to say, unexpected.

"My name is Batman," He said, introducing himself. "What's your name?"

"My title is Beast." Was this to be her new master? Was the one that she thought her Master just a trainer? The boy she thought was her master still held the remote, continuing to confuse her.

"Title?" Batman asked.

"Yes. I have been given many names but I will go by any my Master may choose to give me." What were these people trying to get at?

"Master?" He asked and she began to feel very frustrated. How many times had she gone through this today? Besides that, did he want her to say that _he_ was the Master instead of the one wearing the yellow cape? It all made her very, very confused. Taking a deep breath, she answered.

"I-I believe that you are my Master-" She began before she was cut off.

The one holding the remote looked confused. "But you said earlier whoever holds the remote was your 'master'."

"Yes. But, I believe that you are my trainer." She addressed him, never turning away from the big man in front of her. "You," She addressed Batman. " _feel_ like a Master."

There was silence for a moment before Batman spoke. "I am not your Master. Nor is Robin or any other members of the team."

Okay, if she was confused before, that was nothing. Were these people simply picking her up for another? Or were they just trying to trick her? Or maybe... Her thoughts wound to a scientist that she had known. She cut off that thought quickly. Apparently, Batman noticed her distress. "How long have you had 'masters'?"

She paused. Would these people want her rehearsed answers? They hadn't seemed to like any of her other 'prerecorded' answers. And the tra- Robin had said to be honest. She bit her lip. Her tail coiled around her leg in anxiety. Usually, she just gave a 'there was no time before masters.' or another lie like that. But, she could remember someone warm that would hold her and call her _Cara_ , a name different from all the others. But that was it. Anything afterwards was just a laboratory or master. "I-I _know_ there was a time before masters. I just," she paused, trying to find the right words. "I just can't remember most of it." She peeked up through her bangs to see what their response to her question was. Silence seemed to rule. Batman was staring at her with an unreadable look.

"M'gann and Artemis, would you go and get her some clothes?" When Batman spoke, the girl he had spoke to jumped before nodding quickly. The two girls gave Beast a once over before flying or running, as the case may be, through one of the corridors.

Batman turned to the remaining part of the team and directed orders. "Robin, I need for you and Wally to set a _room_ up for Beast. Superboy, would you tell Red Tornado and Canary that I need to speak with them soon?"

The boys left doing as they were directed. Batman turned to Beast and seemed to give a look of pity _?_ before he asked a question. "Would you like to be called something other than Beast? I understand that that's your 'title', but I'm giving you the choice."

Her tail uncoiled slightly as she thought. She knew a name that appealed to her - _Cara -_ but she said the name that she had been given by Robin. "Robin calls me B." Her golden eyes flicked upwards again, seeing if this was acceptable.

"I want you to choose a name. Not Robin." Batman's voice was rougher now but not- not like any of her old masters.

"Cara." She nearly whispered it as if it was taboo, before saying it again, louder and more confidently. She quickly remembered her place though. In a much meeker voice, she asked, "Can I be Cara?"

Even with her small act of defiance, Batman seemed almost pleased. "That's a nice name," Batman affirmed. "Are you hungry, Cara?"

Cara nodded. "The boy that runs fast-"

"Kid Flash."

Nodding again, Cara restarted. "Kid Flash gave me some soup earlier."

Batman frowned. "I didn't ask if you've already ate, Cara. I asked if you were hungry."

Cara hesitated. Because _yes, yes, yes!_ she was still hungry. But, she had already stepped outside her boundaries already today. She wasn't going to add _asking for food_ to the list. "No, sir."

Batman's frown seemed to grow but he didn't comment on her lie. "Come on, Cara, let's go see if the boys are done getting your room ready."


	4. Chapter Four

**Wow. Two chapters written and published in one day? What is the world coming to? And, oh my gosh, the support I get from you guys is, like, unbelievable! *SCREAMING* Anyway, I just want to say thank you guys! Also, I totally quoted _The Robe_. Have any of you guys read this book?**

Bea-er, Cara was grateful that Batman didn't try to make any small-talk on the way to her new room. The idea was strange- a room! A whole room just to her instead of a cage. She brightened. Maybe she could even get a blanket! The prospects just seemed to rise. And, besides, if they were making her a room, it was less likely they would sell her. Sure, these guys may be confusing but... they were really nice. As long as they kept treating her like this, she would be happy to do whatever they said.

They passed through a cozy looking room that was split between a kitchen and a living area before they entered another corridor. This one had several more doors. The one closest to the living area/whatever-they-called-that-room had its door open. She could hear faint arguing from inside. Her face lit up with a smile before she could stop it at the sight of not only a blanket- but a whole bed! Was this to be her room? Remembering the dark presence beside her, she schooled her expressions. The two boys, Robin and Kid Flash, were in the room and scowling at each other. They both held a pillow in their hands. Wally held his pillow up and was about to throw it at Robin before Batman intervened.

"Robin! Kid Flash!" Batman didn't need to yell, his voice brought the boys to a halt. Robin smiled sheepishly and dropped his pillow on the bed. Kid Flash did the same. Batman's voice returned to that same, slightly strange, kind(er) sounding one. "I want you to meet Cara." Cara sent Batman a strange look before returning her gaze to the ground. "Is Cara's room ready or were you just having a pillow fight the entire time?"

Kid Flash's face turned a deep red color. "Uh, no. I mean, no, we weren't having a pillow fight. Her room's ready."

While Robin had been embarrassed, the sight of Kid Flash's red face sent him into amusement. Batman didn't seem quite as amused as Robin. "Cara," Batman said, "We're going to leave you to get settled. We'll be back soon with some food, okay?"

Cara looked up, nodded, and entered the room after the boys had left. The door slid closed and she heard a faint locking noise. She looked around the room. It was relatively empty, save for the bed, closet, and a camera mounted into the wall. The bed was larger than she had thought. This bed could fit at least three of her! The only problem she had with her room was the ugly green of the bed sheets. She almost burst out laughing. Here she was being _picky_ about the color of the bed sheets! A large grin lit up her face and her tail lashed. Gingerly, she placed a hand on the sheets. It was soft. A bubble of laughter echoed through her. Her dark, scared hand looked out of place on the nice cotton sheets. The whirring of the camera broke her out of her thoughts and she cocked a head to look at it, smile sliding off her face.

Treated nicely or not, she was still, in essence, their slave. This was still better than anything she could imagine. Besides, what would she do with freedom if she had it? No, it was better to remain in the class she was.

She stood up and went to explore the closet. The closet was relatively small (though it was large to her) and built into the cave wall. The bottom third of the closet had several shelves while the rest was devoted to clothes. She stood back from the closet and sat n the bed, staking up the pillows that Robin and Kid Flash had been playing with. There was a knock on the door and she jumped up, standing straight. The door slid open to reveal Robin and Kid Flash with a package of saltines.

"I know this isn't exactly gourmet," Robin said handing the package to her, "But we figured that it would be best not to overload your stomach."

Cara's eyebrows furrowed at the unfamiliar word and she took the packages.

"You can eat some. Just be careful not to eat too much. They're all for you though," Kid Flash said, flashing a smile.

Cara nodded and opened the plastic packaging before shoving a cracker in her mouth. Five more quickly followed. While she ate, Kid Flash and Robin began to chat.

"So M'gann and Artie went to the store to buy you some more clothes. M'gann wanted to know what your favorite color is." Kid Flash said. Cara swallowed her eighth cracker and looked around the room for inspiration. Her eyes lingered on the purple of her shirt.

"Purple?" She squeaked out.

"Cool," Kid Flash nodded, "I prefer red, kinda obviously, and Robin here likes blue." While Kid Flash rambled on, Robin pulled out a strange, square device. He typed a few words on it before putting it back into one of his pockets. Cara finished the package of crackers and Robin took the trash, putting it into another compartment. A device, presumably the one Robin had been messing with a moment earlier, dinged. Robin took it out and frowned.

"Hey, KF, Bat needs us to talk to Red and Canary." Robin turned his attention to Cara. "Canary's probably going to come talk to you tonight, okay? Well, gotta go."

Robin and Kid Flash exited the room, the door sliding closed behind them.


	5. Chapter Five

***Sigh* I'm terrible at naming chapters.**

 **So I may have gotten over excited and wrote another chapter? I also really wanted to do Robin's point of view for the time passed by in the last two chapters. This technically doesn't count as a chapter? (Or does it? You decide.) And I totally referenced Teen Titans too. The new Teen Titans Go or whatever is so stupid. Also, I think this is the longest chapter so far. CAUTION: this ends super weakly.**

"B," Robin took a deep breath before he spoke again. This was so uncomfortable. Heavy on the un-. The girl turned to look at his feet immediately and her tail coiled and uncoiled around her leg. "We're going to take you to meet someone, okay? His name is Batman. We're going to need you to be honest with him. Is that okay?"

She stared at him before nodding slowly. Okay, that was good. At least she was showing a sign of a personality inside. Robin nodded to himself. Even though he technically didn't have to ask her permission to take her anywhere -'cause, let's be honest here. He'd have to do it anyway- it made him feel a lot better. Sending a short glance to the rest of the team, Robin led them through a short hallway into the Mission Room. Batman was already here. That was _great_. Robin exchanged a nervous look with the man and stopped on the low, circular platform in the middle of the room.

 _~Look, Batman~_ Robin sent him a telepathic message via M'gann. _~I know you sooo weren't expecting this but, she needs our help. She's…~_

Wally finished the sentence for him _~Really, really confused about life.~_

 _~That's an understatement.~_ Artemis rolled her eyes. _~She acts like an abused pet or something.~_

Robin could nearly see the question in Batman's head. Instead of asking any, he turned his gaze to B. Batman approached the group calmly. Sending a look of to B, Robin felt panic well in him slightly. This girl's brain was obviously not set properly. Just at having Batman look at her sent her into crazy-submissiveness. The girl's shoulders were hunched inwards and though her arms were straight by her side, Robin could see that they were, along with her legs, shaking.

"My name is Batman," the Dark Night said, introducing himself to the girl. "What's your name?"

"My title is Beast." Oh, yep. There we go.

Wally's voice wove into their heads. _~Told ya, Bats. Her view on the world is soooo messed up.~_

"Title?" Batman asked, ignoring Wally.

"Yes. I have been given many names but I will go by any my Master may choose to give me."

"Master?" Bats asked again. Judging by Beast's face, she was confused. Well, more confused.

Taking a deep breath, she answered."I-I believe that you are my Master-"

Robin paused, his head going over the short conversation he had had with her at the warehouse before he interrupted her. That totally contradicted what she had told them."But you said earlier whoever holds the remote was your 'master'."

"Yes. But, I believe that you are my trainer." She addressed him, never turning away from the big man in front of her. "You," She addressed Batman. "feel like a Master."

There was silence for a moment before Batman spoke. "I am not your Master. Nor is Robin or any other members of the team."

Yep. Okay. Way to lay it on there, Bats. Robin scowled slightly. This girl was getting more and more confused. Even though her face was void of any emotion, they could all tell. This girl, hard as she may try, was an open book. Batman noticed her distress. "How long have you had 'masters'?"

They waited in silence for her answer. Robin counted down the time in his head. One minute. Two minutes. It was almost three minutes until she answered.

"I-I know there was a time before masters. I just," she paused, trying to find the right words. "I just can't remember most of it."

Oh. _Oh._ Robin sent a look to Superboy who seemed to want to punch something. Or, more likely, someone. Considering _he_ was made to be in a similar situation that Beast was in... he was taking it rather well. For him, at least. Robin returned his gaze to Batman, waiting for him to make a decision. He couldn't tell what the man was thinking, even with the telepathic link. What Batman said was totally not what he expected.

"M'gann and Artemis, would you go and get her some new clothes?" M'gann jumped, surprised at being addressed.

 _~Clothes?~_ M'gann asked.

 _~Yeah, come_ _on. She looks like she's been wearing that outfit for a while_. _We're probably going to have to look in the children's section to get her more clothes. She's tiny.~_ Artemis answered, gesturing to the girl. M'gann looked Beast over and nodded. They left quickly.

Batman turned to the remaining part of the team and directed orders. "Robin, I need for you and Wally to set a room up for Beast. Superboy, would you tell Red Tornado and Canary that I need to speak with them soon?"

 _Ahh,_ 'room'. Okay, Robin understood. He grabbed Wally's arm, the telepathic link gone with M'gann, and dragged him out of the girl's -supposed- hearing range. "Okay, so, you need to get some clean bedding and meet me in the room closest to Tornado's. If she's going to be staying here, she'll need a 'babysitter'. I'll be back in a minute. I need to get a camera to mount." Wally was about to answer, but Robin was already gone. Wally cursed the ninja side of Robin and went to find some bedding.

Robin raced to the Hangar and took a camera off of the walls. Sure, this probably wasn't what Bats had in mind but, Robin didn't know where any cameras were that weren't in use. This would have to do. For now, at least. Robin raced back to find Wally with the ugliest color sheets.

"Dude, you totally ninja'd again." Wally threw him an exasperated look and gestured to the room. "Is this the one you were talking about?"

"Yeah. I need to set up this camera." Robin nodded and began to work. He finished wiring the camera before Wally finished setting up the bed.

Robin turned to watch, amused. "So you can fight baddies but not put sheets on a bed?"

Needless to say, Wally was not amused. "Come on, man. This sheet has it out for me!" Wally gave up with the sheet and threw a pillow at Robin. Who ducked. Robin cackled at the sour look on Wally's face before helping him make the bed. Gingerly, he grabbed the pillow that had been thrown at him earlier and whacked Wally in the back of the head with it.

"Touch down!"

Wally scowled at Robin, who mocked him with a similar expression. Wally held his pillow up and was about to throw it at Robin before Batman intervened.

"Robin! Kid Flash!" Batman didn't need to yell, his voice brought the boys to a halt. Robin smiled sheepishly and dropped his pillow on the bed. Kid Flash did the same. Batman's voice returned to his infamous 'dad-voice'. "I want you to meet Cara."

Cara was a different name but it was better to call her that instead of ' _Beast_ '.

"Is Cara's room ready or were you just having a pillow fight the entire time?" Batman asked, exasperation and frustration entering his voice.

Kid Flash's face turned a deep red color. "Uh, no. I mean, no, we weren't having a pillow fight. Her room's ready."

While Robin had been embarrassed, the sight of Kid Flash's red face sent him into a silent giggling fit. Batman, unfortunately, didn't seem quite as amused as Robin. "Cara," Batman said, "We're going to leave you to get settled. We'll be back soon with some food, okay?"

Cara looked up, nodded, and entered the room after the boys had left the room. The door slid closed and Batman entered a code into the keyboard beside the door. He walked down the corridor, the two boys following behind him. When they had gotten into the Lounge, Batman turned around and scowled at them.

"Robin," he said, "Is this going to become a habit?"

Wait, what? "Uh," Robin trailed off, confused.

"Earlier this year, you brought Superboy to join our group. Today you showed up with Cara. While it's nice that you're trying to do good, you're bringing a lot of problems with you."

Wally smirked. "Maybe you could start you're on team. Troubled Teens or something."

"No, man, if anything, it would be the Teen Titans." Robin shook his head.

"Focus," Batman sighed. "Can you too get her some more food? She's emancipated and will need something easy to digest. I'll let you two figure it out while I go talk to Canary. Superboy's trying to contact Red Tornado."

Once Batman was gone, the boys rooted through the cupboards.

"So we're looking for things you could give to people with the flu, right?" Wally asked.

"Yep. _Ohhh~_ gotcha." Robin returned from the pantry holding a package of saltines.

"That'll work." Wally nodded. They walked back to Cara's room, chatting. Before they had reached the door, Robin's phone went off. He pulled it out and scanned the text.

"Wassup? Barbara wondering why you can't take your shift?" Wally asked, trying to read the text over Robin's shoulder. Robin elbowed him back.

"Nah, it's the girls. They want to know what Cara's favorite color is so they can get her some 'feel-good-clothes'."

Wally snorted. "M'gann's having a field trip."

"You know it."

They knocked on the door before typing in the password. The door slid open to reveal Cara standing straight and looking wholly uncomfortable. Robin and Wally stood in the doorway for a minute before entering.

"I know this isn't exactly gourmet," Robin said handing the package to her, "But we figured that it would be best not to overload your stomach."

Seeing the girl's hesitance, Wally flashed a smile and said, "You can eat some. Just be careful not to eat too much. They're all for you though."

Holy smokes! At the rate she was eating, she could beat KF in a contest! Wally didn't even seem to notice.

"So M'gann and Artie went to the store to buy you some more clothes. M'gann wanted to know what your favorite color is." Kid Flash said. Cara swallowed her eighth cracker and looked around the room.

"Purple?" She squeaked out.

"Cool," Kid Flash nodded, "I prefer red, kinda obviously, and Robin here likes blue." While Kid Flash rambled on, Robin pulled out his phone and texted Cara's answer to the girl. He put his phone into his utility belt and looked up. Dude! She had finished the whole package. Rolling his eyes behind his mask, Robin took the trash and put it into a relatively empty compartment. His phone dinged again. Robin took it out and frowned.

"Hey, KF, Bat needs us to talk to Red and Canary." Robin turned his attention to Cara. "Canary's probably going to come talk to you tonight, okay? Well, gotta go."

Robin and Kid Flash exited the room, the door sliding closed behind them. They entered the mission room quietly, hoping to last as long as possible without being noticed. Unfortunately, Batman noticed them almost immediately.

"Here they are." He said.

Oh, crud. Based on BC's expression, they were in sooooo much trouble.

"Batman's told us a bit about the situation. But I want to hear it from the beginning." Black Canary's overly calm face spelled worries for them.

"Uh, well, we busted Ramon and she was in a cage that was like, for a dog. It was way too small for her." Robin rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "Anyway, she gave us the whole _'My title is Beast. Remotes. Masters.'_ ordeal and I let her out."

"She just stood there and looked like we were going to hit her. Ya know, the hunched shoulders thing?" KF added.

"Yeah," Robin agreed. "She's been pretty quiet and non-harmful the whole time. She did anything we asked her to a tee."

Black Canary sighed. "Example?"

"Uh, Rob told her to sit down on the plane and she sat _where she was sitting_. She sat in a chair when we told her too. She wouldn't eat anything without us telling her explicitly to eat it either." Wally counted off.

Black Canary paused, thinking. Finally, she spoke. "Red Tornado, would you be willing to look after another teen?"

"I believe she needs our help." Red Tornado answered.

Batman nodded. "We'll keep her here for now. There's a league meeting tomorrow. I'll bring it up then."

A tinny, mechanical voice spoke. " _Recognized: Miss Martian, BO5; Artemis, BO7."_

The two girls walked in, bags in hands. Artemis looked partially ready to throttle someone. "Hey," She said, "My mom called and asked if I could come home."

Batman nodded, "Yes," He said, "I believe it's time for everyone to get some rest. We can finish... addressing this situation tomorrow."

Artemis nodded, "Do I need to put these anywhere?"

M'gann shook her head. "Nah, I got it." The bags floated up in the air as Artemis walked into the zeta-tube. "Should I drop these off in... _her_ room now or later?"

"She's going by Cara, now." Wally informed her.

"If she's asleep," Batman said, "You can just leave the bags outside of the room; if not, you can take them in."

M'gann nodded as a screen filed the room. It was dark for a second before it switched to infrared. A yellow figure was laying on the bed, almost completely still. Every few seconds her tail would twitch.

"I'll just leave them outside the door and go to bed. I have school tomorrow." M'gann flew out of the room, the bags floating behind her.

"I'm going to go check on Cara. I'll let you know how it goes." Black Canary walked out through the corridor M'gann had left through recently.

"Come on, Robin," Batman said, "We have some things to discuss."

Dang it.

 **I'm so impressed with myself. Three chapters in two days! That's amazing for me. Thank you guys for all the support you have shown! More reviews means more chapters :)**

 **Also: I'm looking for a Beta! Anyone interested?**


	6. Chapter Six

**This was beta-ed by the amazing Great i dea! Go and check her out.**

Cara waited patiently on the bed until,

eventually, she fell asleep. Dreams of smiling scientists filled her head. The whirring of the camera woke her up. Cara blinked awake before her ears twitched. She jumped up at the sound of footsteps passing through the hall. She smelled the air. M'gann passed by the door and Cara settled back down on the bed. Before she could fall asleep again, another pair of footsteps walked towards her room. Cara jumped out of bed again. There was a short knock before the door slid open.

A woman, who smelled strongly of lavender, entered.

"Hello," the woman smiled. While this woman did not have the same "alpha" feel to her that most of her masters had, Cara treated her as if she did. Even though Batman had told her explicitly that these people were not her masters, she chose to treat them as such. It was all she knew.

The woman sighed audibly at her submissive behavior. "My name is Black Canary."

Cara nodded, adding the name to her mental database.

"What's your name?" Black Canary asked, moving to sit on the bed.

Cara hesitated. "Batman has said for me to choose a name. I chose Cara. I can go by another name, if you wish."

"No," the blonde shook her head quickly. "Cara is a beautiful name. How old are you, Cara?"

Cara's mind flat-lined for a moment. How..? She couldn't even remember the last time she had celebrated her birthday. "I don't know. I believe it should be on my files though."

The expressions flickering on Canary's face varied from disgust and indignation to confusion. Cara huddled into herself more as she tried her best to avoid the woman's sharp gaze. At this point, she would rather have assertive and emotionless Batman. At least she understood his thought process better.

Confusion must have won out. "Files?" She asked, her blue eyes darkening.

"I have information kept on me. It records things like my powers, height, and… probably my age. It makes me easier to sell."

"Where could we find these?"

Cara licked her lips nervously. "It's in an SD card in my collar."

The blonde woman hummed thoughtfully and looked at Cara's collar. "Is that…" Canary paused before restarting. "Is that a shock collar?"

Cara nodded.

"Oh. We'll have to get it off for you then - if you'd like."

A lump formed in Cara's throat. No collar - no remote! That meant freedom. Her heart began to swell as her mind raced. Then her heart promptly sank again as reality hit her. Freedom to do and be what? She knew she looked different. She knew that if she were allowed to be her own person, she would spend the rest of her life in hiding. Was that really worth it? Cara hated to admit it, but she adored being around people. Nice people, that is. Her thoughts drifted to that of a scientist before she shoved them away, angrily. That was just another reason she couldn't be around people.

Black Canary waited patiently for an answer.

"Even if my collar was taken off, my life would not - could not change."

Canary seemed troubled by her answer. "Did a 'master' tell you that?"

Cara shook her head.

"Why do you think your life can't change?" The woman leaned forward as if Cara was some fascinating puzzle to work out and solve.

Cara's spaded tail swished behind her back. She could hear the woman's breathing pattern change slightly. She was scared too. Scared of her. But why wouldn't she be? Cara was created to be a living weapon. A-A thing used only for what a master wished. Cara's golden eyes closed for a moment as she stilled her tail and attempted to look smaller and less violent. It wouldn't do to have these people be scared of her. When people -or animals- are scared they lash out. They try to protect themselves. Cara knew this. She had felt the urge in herself many times. Cara took a deep breath. She opened her eyes and took a short glance to the woman's boot where a plastic smell emanated. The remote. The woman looked a little guilty. At least that was better than fear.

Canary repeated her question.

Cara nodded choppily, her short black hair bouncing. She had to answer. Pets that didn't answer were hurt. Carefully, she voiced her thoughts outloud avoiding eye contact. "I look different." She whispered. "People would be scared of me. 'Sides, I-I've been a-a pet for too long. I don't know how to act around people." The next part came out even quieter. "I don't deserve it either. I-I've done bad things. I should be in jail." Cara snuck a peek at the blonde's face. She had never spoken so openly before. Would she be punished? These mas-people were strange and she wasn't sure how to act around them. The disappointment they showed when she acted like a pet was different. And in all honesty, it frightened her.

Canary gave her a hard, guarded look. This response made Cara even more nervous. Had she finally overstepped her boundaries? Her muscles tightened in expectation. Instead of the electric shock she was used to, the low, calm voice spoke instead.

"Cara," Canary addressed, "this is important. I need you to answer this truthfully." At Cara's nod, Canary continued. "Did you like doing those 'bad things'?"

Cara had never felt more adamant about anything in her life. She shook her head brusquely.

The woman nodded and a small smile drifted onto her face. "Do you like to fight?"

Cara hesitated before nodding again. She reveled in the thrill of close-death encounters and bathed in the high of adrenaline. Yes. She loved to fight. But not to kill or injure. Before she had realized it, she had said the last two thoughts aloud. As the last word left her throat, she recoiled instantly, waiting for a blow.

It never came. Cara peeked her eyes open to find Canary watching her in worry. Cara's body slowly relaxed as she realized it wasn't going to come. A small smile flitted onto her face. Canary grinned back.

Canary relaxed a little more against the headboard on the bed. "So, what's your favorite thing to do?"

To do? Cara didn't usually have free time to do stuff. And, when she did, she chose to catch up on all of the precious sleep she had lost. Her masters had always been in charge of her schedule. She was never sure of what would come up but she tried her best to be prepared. "I don't usually have free time to do hobbies." She said, ducking her head.

"Well then," A sly grin crossed Canary's features. "I guess we'll have to find you one. Let's see…" She trailed off, a mischievous glint entered her eyes. "Do you have any idea of what you can do?"

"I can read," Cara answered quickly.

"Would you like me to bring you some books tomorrow?"

Cara nodded eagerly. "Yes, please."

"Okay," Canary stood up. "I'll see you tomorrow then."

Canary walked out the door and Cara was left behind. A strange feeling of loneliness filled her. She pushed the feeling away and climbed into the bed. She was asleep within the hour.

Canary's smile vanished the moment she stepped outside the room. She stayed right outside the door and listened. She heard the creaking of the bed, the rustling of the covers, and then silence.

Dinah suddenly understood why Robin had broken protocol. This girl, this grey, emaciated girl, needed help. While she had obviously been broken on the outside, the inside was in even more disrepair. The jutting, hunched shoulders, and bright golden eyes that flickered around the room nervously spoke wonders about how broken she was. The fact that you could probably wrap a hand around the girl's thighs was… unsettling. This girl, who couldn't be older than a child, needed help.

And while Dinah prided herself for being able to talk to people, she could tell this girl would test her skills. Could she fix this? She didn't know - but she could try. Canary took a deep breath and marched off to the library. She had some books to find.


	7. Chapter Seven

**Another thank you to Great i dea! She is so awesome!**

Cara felt a sense of panic when she woke. Where was she? Her first response was to smell the air. Cara calmed down as she recognized the room. Inhaling deeply, she stretched, enjoying the feel of well-rested muscles.

Cara jumped off the bed and shifted into the form or a small, grey fox. She grimaced at the feel of bones breaking and reforming. The pain lasted for half a second. She stretched again, removing a crick from her back. After resting a moment, she entered into a vigorous workout of shifting from animal to animal. Nearly half an hour later, she collapsed in human form, gasping for breath. Shifting, though painful, exercised all of her muscles at once.

The door slid open and Cara jumped up. She looked at the robot in front of her in confusion. She had only encountered robots, besides training simulators, three times in her life. None of those situations had been good either.

The Robot matched her gaze evenly. "Hello, Cara. Are you hungry?"

Well then. This was certainly new. Cara raised an eyebrow, unafraid. Robots, as far as she knew, were just like her. They were created and could only follow orders. And if they didn't? Well, both she and robots could be 'turned' off.

At least they were missing the intimidation factor.

"Sure," Cara looked at the robot with a small amount of pity. At least she could think for herself. No master could stop her from something like thinking, right?

She followed the robot down the hallway to the kitchen area she had seen earlier.

"My name is Red Tornado."

Cara nodded and gazed around the room. "Mhm, were you built for defense?"

It took a moment for 'Red Tornado' to respond. "I am more than AI. I was built to think for myself. But yes, I was originally built for defense and offense."

Okay. Well that was new. "Oh." She eyed the robot a little more time warily. "Are you recording our conversation?"

"No. Why do you ask?"

"I was just curious." Cara answered freely. Whatever this robot thought, he was just programming and machinery - not a master or a human.

The robot was silent for moment before he changed the topic. "What would you like for breakfast, Cara? I recommend a smoothie for your stomach."

Her eyebrows knitted in confusion. "What? What's a matter with my stomach?"

The robot didn't answer her question. "If you need to use the restroom, it's that door."

Cara nodded and excused herself. After relieving herself, she went to wash her hands but paused at the thing looking back at her in the mirror. The image reflected back at her scared her. Scraggly black hair, glowing gold eyes, and fangs… Pair that with randomly placed scales and black rimmed eyes… Well, Cara understood why people were scared of her. There was a reason, after all, that she did not want to see what she looked like. But, that's not what scared her. The gaunt face… That couldn't be hers, could it?

Cara finished washing her hands, avoiding the mirror. She stalked out of the bathroom, head down and stood off to the side. Red Tornado looked away from the blender to gaze evenly at her.

"Are you okay?" Tornado asked. Though it was hard to tell, it sounded wholly uncomfortable.

Cara nodded jerkily. No matter what this robot thought, it was just Artificial Intelligence. She wasn't obligated to tell it anything. And, in all honesty, she didn't want to tell it anything. All of this talking was starting to make her uncomfortable. She had talked more… equally in the past time she had been here than she had since… Doctor.

The Robot didn't seem to believe her but turned around anyway to pour the smoothie into a cup. Cara's ears twitched at the sound of laughter from down the hall. She took the proffered cup and returned to her spot by the wall and listened as M'gann and… someone else came in. M'gann had a distinct smell that Cara could not describe. The other one, who she could hear but not smell, turned out to be Superboy.

The two walked into the kitchen leisurely, a broad grin on the green girl's face. The grin disappeared quickly when she saw Cara.

Another one, though nervous, reappeared on her face. "I'm M'gann. This is Superboy."

The boy nodded. Cara just blinked in response.

M'gann wasn't going to have any of that behavior though. "So I got you a lot of purple shirts, 'cause you said that was your favorite color and all." Cara said nothing so M'gann continued. "Have you met Wolf yet? He's Superboy's pet."

Cara shook her head, gnarled, thin hands grasping the cup a little tighter in nervousness. This was meaningly chatter.

She didn't know how to do 'small talk'.

"Superboy, could you call Wolf? I'm, like, 99% sure that Cara will love him." M'gann gave a dazzling smile to the brawny boy beside her.

The boy rolled his eyes, but whistled anyways. Cara's ears twitched at the high pitched noise, her sensitive ears amplifying it. The pounding of heavy footsteps followed. Cara was 'like, 99% sure that' she would get a headache. A hint of amusement trailed through her at her own joke. She- holy smokes!

That had to be the biggest 'dog' ever. No wonder they called him Wolf! The dog - or whatever it was - trotted in like it owned the place. The dog tilted its head before walking towards her. Cara gulped and swallowed a big breath of air. Just because she was basically an assassin (forced or not) she was scared to death. Her eyes watched the dog's movements. He was so close and then… he just flopped onto the floor in front of her and rolled over so his stomach was exposed.

A bubble of hysterical laughter left her before she cut it off abruptly, sending an uneasy look to M'gann and Superboy. This dog was the biggest baby ever!

"You can pet him. That's what he wants." Those were the first words she had heard Superboy say to her. Cara nodded and bent down, her hand outstretched hesitantly. The dog wiggled underneath her. A small, apprehensive smile escaped her.

"Shouldn't you be leaving for school?" Red Tornado asked.

"Oh!" M'gann gasped and pulled Superboy out of the room. "See you after school, Cara!" She called after her.

Now that it was just Red Tornado in the room with her and Wolf, Cara relaxed. She gulped the green smoothie down with a grimace. Once the smoothie was gone, she returned her attention to the dog. She was quickly interrupted by Red Tornado though.

"You're going to be receiving a medical exam soon. Would you like to take a shower before then?"

Cara nodded eagerly.

After her shower, Cara found a set of clean clothes laid out on the countertop in the girl's locker room. A knee-length, green and blue maxi dress was folded up and rested on top of a pair of neon pink flip flops. Cara slipped on the dress before gazing at the flip flops indignantly. She sent a glance to her feet. Her feet were shaped similar to a cat's. Only the toes and balls of her feet touched the ground. The rest sloped upwards. While this made her run faster, it was hard to find shoes that fit her. She opted to ignore the flip flops. Her feet were calloused enough anyway.

The next item, which she hadn't noticed at first, was a small plastic hairbrush. She bit her lip as indecision hit her. If this wasn't for her to use, she didn't want to get in trouble for touching it. On the other hand, she didn't want them to think she hadn't used it if she were allowed. Was she over-complicating things? Probably. With a sigh, Cara ran her fingers through her hair.

Red Tornado was waiting for her outside of the Girls' Locker Room. He led her to a large room with several different beds. She had only seen one of them before, a stretcher, as Doctor had called it.

"Will you sit there please?" Tornado gestured to an examination table on the opposite wall of the beds. Cara nodded and hopped on the high, grey bench. Red Tornado went through the basics, cataloging the information. After taking her temperature, he paused and retook it.

"W'a's the matter?" Cara asked as he took it again for the third time.

"It says your temperature is 85," Tornado set the thermostat to the side. "The average human temperature is 98.6."

"Oh."

Tornado continued with the exam, besides her temperature and slight emaciation, she was fine - at least she thought so.

"Would you mind if I take pictures of some of your scars and brandings?" He asked, "It would help if we need to go through any legal issues."

Cara nodded. As Red Tornado took photo after photo, Cara explaining how she got some of the scars as they went, she realized just how scared she actually paused.

"What about this one?" He asked, gesturing to the thin, white scratches on her tail that overlapped cloudy, grey circles the size of a penny.

"You don't need to photograph those," Cara whispered, her tail moving away from Tornado and coiling around her leg. The robot stared at her for a minute then nodded, not quite understanding but letting her have her personal space.

After gathering his 'evidence', Tornado walked her back to her room. Cara felt a tingle around her collar and looked back at the robot who seemed to be busy entering the code into the lock. The door slid open and Cara walked in.

"Get some rest. Don't repeat what you did this morning." Tornado addressed her sternly as the door slid shut.

Red Tornado walked towards his room, smugly slipping an SD card into a secure position in his frame.


	8. Chapter Eight

**Beta'ed by the amazing Great i dea!**

Batman stood in front of the main League members.

"Robin brought an abused girl to the cave last night." The Dark Knight began and a picture of the girl rose in hologr

aphic form in the middle of the table.

Wonder Woman was the first to break the silence. "What do we know about her?"

Batman sighed. This was not going to be a fun explanation. "She was caged in the warehouse that Robin and the team went to last night. Robin brought her to the cave and she's been there since. She has an extreme slave-mentality."

"I took the SD from her collar and watched it." Red Tornado paused. "It's very disturbing and… detailed. It goes through and shows clips of her 'training'. I would recommend hiding this from the team. Even with all they've been through, it's not very age appropriate. It also discusses some of her 'missions'."

Captain Marvel was quickly excused from the room after much complaining. "I'm a League member too! How come I don't get to see it?"

Black Canary interrupted. "I've talked to her briefly about that and she seemed to hate what they made her do. I had M'gann listening in – just to make sure that Cara was being honest."

The room was silent before Batman ordered Red Tornado to play the videos. Several scenes passed before them each disturbing in its own way. During each clip, they couldn't see the person abusing Cara. The voices were modified as well to provide the speakers with privacy. Then stats about her were pulled up. Power levels, specialties, and notes about Cara flashed.

"So, now that we know all of this stuff," Green Lantern leaned forward, "what do we do? It's going to take a lot to get her to function like a normal human being – based on what we know about her mind. I don't think we can just put her in jail or something." The rest of the group murmured their agreement.

Red Tornado addressed the group. "I don't think she understands that I'm not just a robot. She treats me differently – I believe – then she treats the rest of you. She still respects me… she just seems more relaxed and open."

Canary thought deeply for a moment before voicing her thoughts. "I think we should continue what we've done. I'll continue to do a daily therapy session – as my schedule allows. It would probably be good if, when she becomes more adjusted, to have her meet some of the league members so she can socialize with people she hasn't met yet."

"So are we just going to keep her inside?" Superman asked, "Her appearance isn't exactly the most… inconspicuous."

"I can probably make a holographic device for her. Until then, we can have her go out at night or in a secluded area." Batman nodded slowly, the plans coming together in his mind.

"I have already taken the role of watching over her." Red Tornado stood at attention. "And Robin has informed me that a camera was installed in her room."

Hawkwoman nodded, pleased with the set up. "What does she do in her spare time?"

A video quickly replaced the hologram of Cara. Cara was sitting in the small room tracing different designs on the floor. They could vaguely tell what she was making. A flower here. A butterfly there. A bird flying. Many animals soon followed.

There was a hesitant knocking on the door and the live video feed switched off. The door opened a crack and Captain Marvel peeked his head through. "Can I come in now?"

Flash snorted at his behavior. It was hard to remember that stuck in the grown man's body was a ten year old kid. Captain Marvel was let back into the room as they conducted the rest of their meeting.

Cara had already taken a nap that morning and now felt strangely… bored. It was a strange feeling but, it still beat doing bad things. There was the pounding of paw-steps as Wolf came to visit her again. He would come by periodically to check on her and make himself comfortable by the door. Cara looked up from where she had been tracing pictures as he returned.

"Hey, Wolf." She repositioned herself by the door as Wolf whined. There was a clomping sound without a smell and Cara knew who he was instantly. The door slid open to reveal him standing outside of the door awkwardly.

"Uh, M'gann wanted to know if you wanted to watch a movie with us. She wants to watch Harry Potter. She just finished reading the books… if you want to join us, you can." Superboy stared at her, waiting for a response. He figured she probably wouldn't want to but, M'gann asked him to ask her, so he did.

Cara had never seen a movie before, much less anything about Harry Potter. She cocked her head at Superboy. This order didn't sound like an order, more like a request. Seeing as he was still waiting for an answer, Cara nodded slowly, unsure of how to answer.

Superboy nodded stiffly and started to walk away towards the living area. Wolf hopped up to follow him. Cara sent a look back to her room before following after the two. As she drew closer to the kitchen, she smelled popcorn.

M'gann smiled at her softly and handed her a small bowl of popcorn. "Do you like the clothes I picked out for you? I wasn't sure what would be most comfortable to you." Cara glanced down at the dress and nodded sharply, taking the offered bowl from the Martian. M'gann waited in silence for a moment, giving Cara a chance to talk before inserting a DVD into the television and settling on the couch beside Superboy.

She patted the cushion softly, "Do you want to sit by me, Cara? You don't have to if you don't want to."

Cara eyed the couch warily and sent a swift glance at M'gann's face. If this was like the other opposite-than-what-she-was-used-to things, M'gann wanted her to sit by her. On the other hand, if Cara did what she wanted to and sit on the floor, would M'gann be pleased or not? Tentatively, Cara sat down on the floor, watching M'gann and Superboy for any reaction. To her faint surprise, M'gann seemed rather happy that Cara had done what she had wanted to rather than what M'gann wanted.

M'gann smiled at her before starting the movie. Cara remained stiff and nervous throughout the film, never eating a piece of popcorn. Even though M'gann had seemed pleased with her decision earlier, Cara wanted to try no more acts of defiance (no matter how small) today.

When the movie was over, M'gann stood up abruptly, startling Wolf who had come to lay beside Cara during the beginning of the movie. With a sigh, M'gann collected the bowls from her fellow movie-watchers and walked into the kitchen to start on dinner. Superboy gazed at Cara steadily for a moment before following his girlfriend. Cara stood awkwardly. She had never been left in a room before with them. Did they expect her to follow them into the kitchen or stay where she was? Given that no command was spoken, she sat back down beside Wolf and began to pet him.

A strange buzzing caught her, Superboy, and Wolf's attention. A new scent was in the air which Cara quickly recognized to be Black Canary and Red Tornado. Canary was the only one, however, to walk into the kitchen and lounge area, carrying a black bag slung over one of her shoulders. The woman seemed surprised to see Cara sitting, unsupervised, on the floor in the Lounge.

"Hello, Cara." Black Canary got over her shock quickly and smiled. Cara merely nodded in return. Black Canary turned to the other two teenagers (making sure to watch Cara out of the corner of her eye, of course). "How was school today? Did you get 'loaded' with homework again?"

M'gann was the first to answer. "School was great!" M'gann talked quickly and excitedly, "Superboy and I got no homework at all! And my cheerleading practice went perfectly."

Superboy nodded and settled for a simple, "School was fine."

"What are you making?" Black Canary addressed M'gann.

"Oh, I found a Tortellini Soup recipe online and I decided to make it. It seems pretty easy so far." M'gann flashed the sheet of paper at the blonde.

The woman nodded amiably. "Well, if you two don't mind, I'm going to steal Cara away for a moment."

Cara looked up abruptly, her mind sidetracked from Wolf. She followed the blonde through the corridors into a room she had not previously been in. Two chairs were the main feature of the room, though a waterfall ran down one wall. Canary took one seat and invited Cara to sit in the other. Cara sat in the chair awkwardly, being careful not to sit on her tail.

"What did you do today?" Canary asked, shuffling through her black bag.

Cara glanced to the floor. "I slept, mostly. M'gann and Superboy invited me to watch a movie with them."

"That sounds like fun!" Fake exuberance entered her voice. "What movie did you watch?"

"Harry Potter, I think."

Canary smiled and pulled out the books she had buried in her knapsack. "That's one of the books I got for you. M'gann recommended it." She handed the books to Cara who took them carefully. "I got you a few books for you to choose. They're different types of genres and levels. You can take them into your room and read them, if you'd like."

Cara nodded and set the books on her lap, returning her attention to Black Canary. "Thank you, ma'am."

Black Canary nodded and pulled yet another thing out of her bag. She handed the empty notebook and pen to Cara who looked at her curiously. "This is for if you want to draw. You can fill up all the pages - it's for you. Consider it a present."

Cara stared at Canary as if in a new way before nodding gratefully. "Thank you!" The notepad, though small and cheap, was the first gift Cara could recall receiving.

"Do you have any special gifts?" Though Canary knew the answer, she asked it anyway.

Cara nodded, almost excitedly. "I can change what I look like and become different animals." A monkey took Cara's place briefly.

"I have a special gift too," Black Canary smiled, "I can use my vocal chords as a weapon - like a bat using echolocation. The main difference is that I can actually attack people with it."

The next questions Canary asked were easy to answer. Finally, after the session was done, Cara was left in her room, books, notepad, and pen clutched tightly in her hands.


	9. Chapter Nine

**Special thank you to my beta Great i dea!**

Cara woke up and instead of exercising, as was custom, she instead took to choosing a book to read. The three books - _The Robe, Harry Potter,_ and _Stealheart_ \- were each of different reading levels, that she could tell. Cara chose to start with the big book first. She returned _Harry Potter_ and _Steelheart_ to the closet shelves. She read the book slowly but steadily, stopping only when someone approached her door. Cara stood up and set the book down carefully, slipping an edge of a blanket into the book to hold her place.

Kid Flash stood in the _doorway,_ grinning brightly. "Hey, Cara. How are you?"

"Black Canary brought me some books and drawing materials yesterday," Cara smiled hesitantly.

"That's cool! I'm not much of an artist though - stick figures mostly. Robin and Artemis are pretty good." He turned and indicated she was follow him. Kid Flash talked the whole way to the kitchen.

At the entry to the kitchen, Kid Flash paused and took a deep inhale. "Mmm, M'gann! Those pancakes smell good!"

Superboy looked up, slightly annoyed, from the bacon he was cooking. Kid Flash was in a much better mood - especially at seeing the burly clone forced to make bacon. Making a quick whipping motion, Kid Flash laughed before going to the freezer to get a can of frozen orange juice.

If Cara hadn't had her innate sense of smell and hearing, she probably wouldn't have noticed the arrival of Robin. Artemis came in at the same time and chose to stand to the side by Cara.

"Chocolate chip pancakes?" He asked, scaring the speedster as he seemed to appear from out of nowhere. "Nice way to start out the day - beats cereal. Is Kaldur back?"

Superboy nodded though M'gann answered. "Aqualad came in late last night. He said he was planning on joining us for breakfast."

"Hey, Kid Mouth, why don't you do something useful and come help me set the table." Artemis sent a look to the said teen who kept trying to sneak extra pieces of bacon. Kid Flash grinned, unabashed and grabbed a stack of plates and set them down using a hint of his power.

Artemis rolled her eyes and began placing glasses on the table. Robin jumped off the counter he was sitting on to put out silverware and napkins. During this, Cara stood awkwardly off to the side, not sure of what she was supposed to do. They hadn't really included her in the conversation so she had just been satisfied to keep to herself. Now though, they everyone was working - but her. While it was nice to relax on occasion, her hands itched for something to do.

Cara's thoughts were interrupted by the strong smell of salt and... fish? It wasn't entirely bad. The salt smell covered up most of the fish. A new person, one whom she had not met, entered, looking incredibly tired. He noticed her right off and introduced himself as Kaldur and extended a finned hand out.

She took the hand delicately, careful not to let her claws get near the thin flaps of skin. The rest of the team seemed excited to see their teammate.

"Yo, Kaldur, how was the mission?" Kid Flash asked, setting the milk carton on the table before racing over to stand by the Atlantean.

Kaldur smiled, "My king needed me to guard the palace while Queen Mera had her child, whom they named Artur, after his father."

M'gann grinned, "Ohhh~" She gushed, "What does he look like?"

"He is a mirror image of his father - blond and blue eyed," Kaldur's grin grew.

"So what," Kid Flash smirked, "Is he Aquababy then? Aquaman and Aqualad is already taken. And, let's face it, Aquakid is kind of lame. And way too similar to my name."

Robin cackled, "Are you saying your name's lame? You're the one that chose it!"

"I was eleven!" Kid Flash yelled. While the rest of the group seemed to find the situation funny, Cara... didn't. When people got angry, she was generally the one that got hurt.

"Dude!" Robin shot back, "I was even younger! Your argument is totally dead!"

Artemis broke through the fighting before it could continue. "As much fun as it is to listening to you two argue," she drawled, "We need to eat before Canary comes. I don't want to waste my Saturday waiting for you guys to screw your brains on properly!" Artemis finished her rant and sat down heavily on a chair, stabbing a pancake with her fork before dropping it on her plate.

"Here, here! Breakfast time! The best time of the day!" Kid Flash grinned and ran out of reach before settling himself at a spot by the bacon.

"Besides lunch and dinner, of course," Robin snickered under his breath. Artemis, who was sitting beside him, laughed loudly before glancing to Cara, who was still standing off to the side, unsure of what she was to do.

Artemis patted the empty seat beside her. Cara moved from the wall to sit. She watched as the table - that had been so calm and relatively quiet a moment before - erupted into hysteria. Food, plates, and arms were everywhere trying to get some food before Kid Flash ate it all. The only person - besides Cara, of course - that wasn't trying to grab food was Aqualad. He watched the group tiredly but happily all the same.

After the main bustle was over, Aqualad stabbed one of the few pancakes left with his fork and put it on his plate, spreading a chocolate mix over it.

"Ya wan' some ba'on or pancakes?" Kid Flash asked Cara through a mouthful of food. There was a sharp thud under the table and Kid Flash frowned sending a sharp look to the suspected kicker, Artemis. Artemis attempted to hid her smirk while she piled a pancake and two strips of bacon onto Cara's plate. From Cara's other side, M'gann doused the food in syrup. Cara took a hesitant bite of the bacon and a small smile made its way onto her face.

A smirk appeared on Robin's face, as he laughed, sending a look towards Kid Flash. "Nothin's as good as bacon? Am I right?"

"Mhm," M'gann shook her head. "I dunno, chocolate's pretty good."

After breakfast, the group gathered in a room with a large amount of workout machines. Black Canary and Batman were waiting for them. They turned from the video they had been watching, to give the arriving group their full attention. Cara's face had paled slightly and she was walking slower than the rest of the group, as the food from earlier settled heavily in her stomach. Black Canary exchanged a worried look with Batman at Cara's pale face.

"I figured that we would just try and record our statistics," Batman said, "And try to break some old records."

Several members of the group exchanged excited glances. "What kind of records are we looking for?" Kid Flash asked.

"Well," A strange smile spread across Black Canary's face, "The person with the most improvement gets treated to no early morning training for a week. How's that for motivation?"

It was great motivation, apparently. Robin went immediately to the rope course; Superboy and M'gann to the weights; Artemis to the archery; and Kid Flash to the treadmill. Cara stood off to the side, not sure what she should do. It was evident that she was to do something - she just wasn't sure what that something was.

"So, Cara, what do you want to try doing first? You can use the climbing wall, if you want." Black Canary gestured to the large, gray wall in the center of the room. Cara cocked her head at it, evaluating its difficulty. Then, she grinned widely and ran straight up the course on all four legs. At the top of the wall, she sat down, smoothing the fabric of the skorts she had found in her room. (Note: to anyone that doesn't know, I skort is a play on the word shorts and skirt. It basically is a skirt with shorts inside.) Canary grinned up at her from below and recorded her time. "You beat all the boys' records."

Cara shook her head, "It doesn't really count for me. I could climb straight up a wall. My feet and hands stick to all surfaces." Then she blushed and ducked her head, remembering her place. The moment of excitement had made her forget. Not anymore. Wolf trotted lazily into the room and attempted to mess up Superboy, who was benching.

Cara shifted into a bird and glided down to the floor before shifting back into her 'humanoid' appearance. Cara and Wolf looked up suddenly at the sudden smell that had entered. Her nose wrinkled at the anger she could sense and Wolf started barking, running out of the room. Superboy looked up questioningly before closing his eyes and listening.

"Klarion and his stupid cat are here - they're in the Souvenir Room." The team jumped up and, followed by Batman and Canary, raced after Wolf, leaving Cara behind. Cara sent a glance around the room before shifting into cheetah. She ran as fast as she could through the narrow corridors. Now that she new this new presence was a threat to those that owned her - whether they admitted it or not - she would protect them. she passed them and ran forward, falling in stride with Kid Flash.

A strange looking boy was standing, his back to her, and hurling random objects off the shelves into a swirling purple portal. The cat, though it didn't smell like a cat, hissed when it saw her and Kid Flash enter.

Cara shifted into a panther and hurled herself at the cat. She was thrown off as the cat howled and grew into the size of a grizzly bear. The strange looking boy, who must have been Klarion, turned around and pouted.

"Awww, I just wanted some toys. Can't you guys let me have them? I mean, they are useless." A twisted grin replaced the pout on Klarion's face.

"To- that's my stuff!" Kid Flash ran towards the Witch boy with the intent of a insuring a major punch. Klarion waited until the last second before another portal opened up, enveloped him, and dropped him off beside Cara and the cat-bear-thing. Kid Flash crashed into the wall at full speed and dropped to the ground for a moment, dazed. Cara, who was currently trading hits with the animal as a velociraptor, bit into the creature's neck, making sure it wouldn't come back for at least a few minutes. She sent a worried glance to Kid Flash, before the witch boy distracted her.

Klarion shrieked indignantly and threw a ball of light at Cara. Cara leapt out of the way, shifting into her humanoid form. The thought entered her head that she probably change into a hummingbird - but she threw that idea away quickly. If she were to do that, Kid Flash was more likely to get hurt. She attempted to veer the strange boy away from Kid Flash and it seemed to be working - at least for a while.

A low moan came from Kid Flash as he sat up. He watched Cara dance around Klarion's attacks for a moment before going to help.

Seeing as Kid Flash was now conscious, Klarion jeered, "You got a new pet."

"She's not a pet-" Kid Flash tried to explain, flustered. While doing so, however, he became unaware of the ball of light coming towards him. Changing once again into a cheetah, she barreled the unobservant speedster over. Just then, the rest of the team entered. Once second later, the room glowed brightly as the ball of light hit Cara. When the light had subsided, Klarion and Teekal were gone - as were Kid Flash's souvenirs.


	10. Chapter Ten

**Okay, so to answer Guest's question, Cara will NOT be paired with anyone. Besides the fact that her brain is messed up enough, I have the personal preference that fourteen year-olds should not date. Anyway, yeah. No dating for the babies.**

 **ALSO~ I made a tumblr for this story (you can blame that for why I am late on the update.) The tumblr site is the-changing-of-a-beast .com. On it, you can view pictures of her, ask her questions, whatever!**

 **Sorry this took forever. I got stuck in a rut.**

The ground jolted underneath Klarion as he stepped through the light. He groaned in annoyance and sent a glance to Teekal, "I really need to work on that bright light on this side. Stupid spell."

Teekal mewed, stalking off. Klarion sent his pet an annoyed glance before cackling and looking over his new prizes. Sitting crisscross on the ground, he sorted the objects into a 'no' and 'yes' pile. A mask, arrow, and hood quickly joined the 'no' pile. These things held no signature of Kid Flash. He growled and threw the other 'souvenirs' at the wall. None of these would work! Breaking into the Mountain had been useless and a waste of time. Teekal walked back into the room and flicked his tail, sitting by the thrown objects.

"You're right, Teekal," Klarion purred, "We can do a tracking spell – figure out where he lives! Then I can get the signature!"

Jumping up, he collected the arrow. Even if he couldn't go in the order The Light wanted, he could still get the signatures. "להעביר אותי לאור!" The ancient language flowed into the air and a bright light surrounded him and Teekal. When they came to the other side, Taskmaster was waiting for them.

"You got the stuff?"

Klarion scoffed and rolled his eyes in response. "I don't question your job." He added testily. "Let me talk to Luther. I have an idea."

Taskmaster shook his head a little bit and, behind the mask, he was probably frowning. Eh, it was better than obscene gestures. He had almost lost a finger for that. A steady grin spread across his face as he followed the blond through the passageway. Oh yes, this was going to be good.

.o.O.0.O.o.

Cara huddled into a ball, tail curling around her instinctively. Her breathing came out labored and her side throbbed but, she didn't care. She craned her neck to look towards the Speedster, checking to make sure he was okay. She knew from personal experience that being mowed over by a semi-large animal hurt. Kid Flash seemed fine, if not a little dazed. Remembering the other people in the room, Cara stood up slowly, readying herself for the penance that would come from the actions she had taken. She didn't know if she was supposed to leave that room - but she had. Cara figured it was okay that she had run to protect Kid Flash, so she wouldn't be punished for that. Cara knew she would be punished for pushing the Speedster though. She had been stupid. She should have found another way.

These thoughts swirling in her head, she pushed herself up to her feet, head craning down to the floor in preparation. As much as Cara tried, she couldn't help how she swayed on her feet. She heard large, heavy footsteps walked out of the room followed by small, soft steps. Large, black boots appeared in her range of sight, and her purple shirt was lifted up slightly.

"You need to go to the med bay. Can you walk?" Cara's gaze lifted to Black Canary's face and she nodded. Batman turned and disappeared from the room, Robin following him out like a shadow. Canary turned to Kid Flash, glancing over him to make sure he was okay. "Now what about you?" She addressed.

Kid Flash shrugged. "'M fine. I doubt that there will even be bruises tomorrow."

Canary nodded, "Okay, come on Cara. The rest of you? You might as well go get lunch."

"What?" Kid Flash tore off his mask angrily. "Dude! My stuff gets stolen, Cara got shot by a light ball thing, and you want us to go get lunch?!"

Aqualad intervened, "Batman and Robin are taking care of why Klarion took your souvenirs."

Black Canary nodded, "Besides, you need to get some food." She sent the Speedster a look that clearly said 'we're going to talk about this later."

Kid Flash frowned, knowing that, even if he was right, he had to do what they wanted anyway. With a huff, Kid Flash stalked out of the room. Aqualad, Superboy, and M'gann followed after him. M'gann sent a nervous look back, Cara could almost feel the telepathic conversation going on between them. Cara followed behind Black Canary not wanting to make the frustrated woman any more upset.

She could nearly feel the irritation coming off of the woman in waves. It seemed to have started when Kid Flash had torn off his mask. Was she upset about that? It didn't seem like such a big deal – considering that wherever they were had just broken into. A thought drifted its way to the front of her mind. Maybe they didn't want her to see what they looked like without the masks. She quickly shoved it back. No, that was stupid. Half the team didn't even wear masks anyway. And, 'sides, even if she was recaptured, it wouldn't be that hard to find a speedster with bright red hair and green. If she was to guess (which she was fairly sure she could do accurately) she would have to say he was just under six feet, if not that tall.

Fairly quickly, Cara found herself in the Medical bay lying down on a piece of white equipment. She knew she was supposed to pay attention to what was being said, but things were getting fuzzy. She was getting distracted and she hated it.

"-Bleeding, just in case." Canary was saying as she fiddled with the larger part of the machine. "-'T want to risk anything."

Then the platform she was laying on began to move. She shut her eyes quickly against the bright lights her mind, still fuzzing, passing from topic to topic. She had no idea what this machine. While Black Canary had probably told her, Cara, apparently, was not paying attention. Her eyes opened for a second, her instincts wanting to find out what was going on, when a sudden bout of claustrophobia hit her. Her breath came out in ragged gasps and she could feel her palms beginning to sweat. Quickly, she closed her eyes again and thought to happy memories. When she opened her eyes again, she was out of the cursed machine and Canary was watching her carefully. Cara made a move to sit up, uncomfortable laying on her tail.

"Are you okay?"

Cara nodded. "Yes, ma'am." She felt a tinge of bitterness at having to address the blonde formally but she pushed the thought away quickly.

Canary eyed her doubtfully but nodded nonetheless. "You don't have any internal bleeding or any broken bones."

Cara nodded again and Black Canary continued talking. "I'm not sure what Klarion did to your side. We're probably going to need to have either Nabu or Zatanna scope it out. Is that okay with you?"

Cara nodded, feeling a vague sense of déjà vu. A hint of humor trickled into her, despite the situation. It felt strange to be in a place where she had an actual choice.

Canary nodded back, noting the reactions. "How much does it hurt? I need to know how much medication to give you."

"It's fine." Cara lied. Giddiness filled her for a moment, she had never lied before. Black Canary gave her a long look.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes." Oh, she was sure. Defiance, though done in small doses, meant that she was, at least a little bit, in charge of some things – meant she wasn't a complete animal like previous masters had said. She paused, her mind going blank for a moment. That- that was- for a minute, she felt different. She wasn't sure what had happened. Then, the feeling left.

"You want some lunch?" Canary asked.

Cara nodded again. After a peanut butter sandwich, she was back in her room to think about the events of the day.


	11. Chapter Eleven

**Hey, guys! I'm back. College sucks. Life goes on. (I'M TOO YOUNG FOR COLLEGE. SOMEONE TELL MY MOM SIXTEEN YEAR OLDS SHOULD NOT DO COLLEGE. I AM NOT READY FOR THIS LEVEL OF STRESS.) Anyway, you know the drill! Read and review!**

 _The cigarette hung loosely in his mouth as the edges of his lips curved upwards into a smile. He pulled the bud out of his mouth and distinguished it on her arm. She bit her lip, but said nothing. The whole place they were in smelled strongly of smoke, alcohol, and sweating bodies. Her master ordered another shot of beer before ogling the women on the stage. The dance ended and he, along with several other men, stuffed some money into her clothing as she came near. She grimaced. Her master stood up with a flourish, running a hand threw his hair._

 _"I have a bargain." He yelled, loud enough for the whole party to hear. "Whoever can beat her, can have her for the night!" She was jerked up into a standing position beside her master. She was cornered and scared, her eyes flickering across the room pinpointing who would be the biggest problem. She didn't want any of these men to touch her. The room was silent for a moment and she could feel the eyes that were staring at her. The clothes she had been so excited to wear earlier now seemed too revealing - too little. She was grateful for them nonetheless, it was more than she was normally allowed to wear with this master. She wanted to hide, to shift, anything away from these men. But she couldn't. She would be punished for sure if she moved away._

 _A tall, large man stood up with a grin. "I'll try."_

 _She knew from that moment she was doomed. She was small for her age, barely hitting four foot five and, with a glance towards her master, she knew that he was not going to allow her to shift during this fight. Golden eyes watched the man as he came closer. He reached a hand out and she felt herself freeze - something she did when she was truly scared. She already knew that this fight was over before it could begin. The man seemed to know this too._

Cara scrambled out of bed blindly, her breath coming out in harsh rasps. The man was still in her mind still touching her, still-. She shook her head madly and planted her back against the cave wall. She was safe (for now). That had been three years ago. It was different now. She could fight anyone now, any form (but can you really?). Her eyebrows creased. The voice in her head, it was hers but it didn't think like her.

Slinking down to the ground, she let out a deep breath. The voice was quieter now. It was still there, of course, she could hear it in the corners of her mind telling her to run, to go, but she ignored it as best as she was able. She was still tired and approached the bed warily. She wanted to sleep but just thinking about laying on the bed made her feel scared. Instead, she crawled underneath the bed, just like when she was younger and had tried to hide after the first time. (Why don't you just leave? You know how to escape. You could go and be your own forever. No one would be your master then. No masters ever again. Just freedom.) Cara closed her eyes and attempted to push the voice away again. Her current masters were kind to her. (They'll get tired of you. What will you do when they sell you?)

She closed her eyes and fell asleep.

 _Hands were everywhere. Some were holding her down, others hitting her, clawing her. Hurting her. Her face was pressed into the dirt and she could feel a rock cutting into the skin on her cheek. That was nothing though. Not compared to the boot that kept coming to her side. A short cry came out as the boot hit her again, harder. There was a crack and pain, even more than before, filled her._

When she awoke, it was hitting her head on the bed. Golden eyes looked around warily. What was going on? She could normally sleep much better than this - with good masters, anyway. She felt threatened, like prey. Frowning, Cara surveyed the floor. Someone was in here, she knew, she could hear the slow breathing of another person. Perhaps that was what woke her this time? The person, whoever it was, smelled strongly of vanilla and strawberries. Most likely a girl.

"So," The girl said, her voice heavily accented with superiority. "You can pretty much consider me your master now."

Cara stayed under the bed. This person, whoever she was, did not feel like the others. She felt… not cruel… but as if she thought herself better than others. Better than Cara (though that was probably true).

"Come out, Beasty," The girl cooed. The bed creaked and feet were in her field of vision. Cara had two options. The first, was attack the girl. This girl felt nothing like the others and seemed to be an intruder. But if it was actually the 'Zatanna' they talked about, Cara would be in huge trouble. The second (and last) option was to just… do as the girl said.

She bit her lip before meekly calling out, "Are you Zatanna?"

The girl above her stilled. That was a no then. That meant she was, most likely, an intruder. This girl, whoever she was, was a threat. So, option two was thrown out the window. That left option one: attack. Cara rolled out from under the bed and stood up quietly. The girl watched her stand up and took in her defensive position - or at least Cara assumed that's what she was doing. It was rather hard to tell with the mask in place. Cara stumbled forwards. Confusion wrapped around her.

"Oh, I see you're finally starting to get a good dose of air, now, huh?" The girl stood up, never turning away from Cara.

"Dose of air? Wha-?" Cara swayed slightly on her feet before her mind went blank. Cheshire waited impatiently for a moment to make sure the halothane had its hold. After checking to make sure that snapping her fingers would hold no effect, she dismantled the camera in the corner of the room, making sure to take the film. Then, grabbing onto Cara's arm, she surveyed the room one last time, checking to make sure everything was in place.

"We're ready." Cheshire said into the earpiece. With a flicker of blue light, she had left the room. It would be the next morning that Red Tornado would discover that Cara was gone.

Cheshire guided the incapacitated girl to a holding cell. When the Beast came to, she would not be happy. This in mind, she pushed the girl onto the platform, tied the restraints around all her limbs, and locked the inhibitor collar into place. She really hated to do this - but her dad was not a man to be messed with. A frown formed on her face behind the mask. Oh, Red Arrow better appreciate the work she was doing to keep him safe. Speaking of which, she had a date with him to get ready for. She slunk out of the building quietly. Everything was in motion. With the rook taken out of place, it was Kid Justice's turn to move their pieces.

 _Your move, Sis._

 **Don't forget to review :)**

 **(Psst... more reviews mean longer (and quicker) chapters!)**


	12. Chapter Twelve

**Beta'd by Maniac Productions! Here's this week's chapter. :)**

Red Tornado walked to Cara's room, markers in hand. Black Canary had recently purchased some for the shapeshifter for her drawing and, because 'work' was interfering, Red Tornado was delivering them. Wolf trailed behind him. Once the password was typed in, the mechanical doors slid open to reveal… an empty room. Immediately, his scanners kicked. He closed the doors to the room and examined them to look for any tampering. There was none, not even on the keypad. Opening the doors again, he conducted a search on the room. Wolf sniffed around the room and began to growl lowly. Red Tornado looked up from where he was looking at the broken camera towards the bed. He stalked towards the bed and examined the covers. Nothing looked out of the ordinary at first. The bed was slightly rumpled and… then he saw it. There was a long, black hair on the pillow. While Cara had black hair, it wasn't this long. He picked up the hair and deposited it into one of the many compartments on his person. He had a DNA scan to do.

His first reaction, now that he had some evidence to go on, was to call Bruce. "Batman, this is Red Tornado," he said, when the billionaire picked up the phone. "Someone was in Cara's room. I'm going to run a DNA scan in just a moment."

There was silence for a moment, then a scuffling noise. Tornado waited patiently. Finally Bruce spoke up, "What about the camera? Is it still available to playback the video information?"

"The camera was cut apart. The video, before the camera was cut off, should be available on the database. I was going to begin the DNA scan before checking the video feed."

There was silence for a moment. "Okay, did you check to see if the remote was still locked up?" Than another pause before Bruce added, "Do you need me to take an off-day to help?"

Red Tornado answered the last question first. "No, I believe I am in no need of assistance. I have not yet checked on the remote."

There was silence and Tornado could hear Bruce talking with a woman. He waited patiently and was rewarded. Batman grunted, "If you need any help, let me know" and the line went silent. Red Tornado began the scan before leaving to go check the video.

The colored image spun into view and Red Tornado settled back to watch. Seeing as Cara was sleeping, he fast-forwarded the video. All of a sudden, Cara shot up and looked around the room nervously. He returned the video to its normal speed hoping that whoever, or whatever had happened, would come into play quickly. The hope was to no avail. Cara disappeared underneath the bed. He waited a moment, and was about to speed the video up, when a blue glow appeared in the closet. There was a quick green and silver movement, and the video feed was cut off. Tornado leaned black and frowned. Carefully, he searched his and Justice League's database – the blue light, where did he know it from? All the signs he could see pointed to Klarion. But, the green and silver – those didn't sit right with the Lord of Chaos. Perhaps it had been a group effort? He'd have to have either Zatanna, when she came today, or Nabu test the two rooms. But still, it didn't fit right with him. Two unexplained happenings in one day? Even for the Justice League, that was not usual. Perhaps Cara had simply put on an act for everyone.

Quickly, he dialed up Bruce again. He'd want to hear this.

 **.o.O.0.O.o.**

Cara's head throbbed and an uncomfortable turning occurred in the pit of her stomach. She felt like she was going to throw up. All in all, it was not the best way she had woken up (not the worst, either). She listened for a moment, but heard nothing except for her own breathing. Deciding that she had to open her eyes to find out more, she cautiously peeked them open. The room she was in could be more accurately described as a cage or a prison. Outside of the bars of her cage, she could see that the walls and floor were all made out of concrete. There was one window, but she couldn't see past through the closed paper blinds. She continued to lay on the floor. If she tried to get up at the moment, she was certain she would vomit. For a few moments, she watched the morning light flicker through the blinds until she felt better.

As the room slowly started to stabilize she sat up clutching a hand to her head. She was alone in the room and that was to be considered strange in and of itself. Usually, she would be hearing the prideful speeches about how they had captured her. Still, she was grateful. She would rather be alone and safe than normalcy and pain. Her hand fingered her smooth shock collar and she looked around the room again, carefully, checking for cameras. There were none she could see. Cara's eyebrows creased as she neared the edge of the cage. She squinted, checking for any visible signs of wiring. She squatted on her haunches and ripped a small piece of fabric off the sleeve of her shirt. Carefully, she ran the fabric through the bars. Nothing happened. She stuck her hand out of the bars nervously, eyes squeezed shut. When nothing happened, she cracked her eyes open and a small smile emerged on her face.

She swallowed a lump in her throat. Was she really going to do this? Escape? She knew that whoever these people were, they didn't have her remote. Why? If they had had her remote, they would have used it on her in the beginning, right? Instead of kidnapping her? Cara hadn't smelled the remote, so she considered herself safe on that account. It was daring. She'd tried to escape before and… obviously, it hadn't worked. She smelled the air and, no, someone hadn't suddenly appeared to put her in her place. A strange sensation welled in her. She was… she was going to do this.

Cara pulled on the little ball of energy in her and willed to change into a mouse. When she opened her eyes, everything was the same. The world was not shaded with greys and everything was still the same size. She felt panicked for a moment, almost claustrophobic. Her hands fluttered up to the collar on her neck. Maybe this was what was limiting her from shifting? She tried again and again, and every time, nothing happened. No animals or insects took her place. Her breath was coming out faster now. This was a new collar, she understood. New collars mean new rules and punishments. These people, whoever it was that had kidnapped her, must not want her for her shifting abilities at all times. If they could turn her powers on and off, that meant another remote. Well, she huffed a little, there goes that plan. She leaned against the bars, accepting her defeat. Eventually, her eyes slipped shut.

The muffled pounding of footsteps woke her up. Cara's head shot up from where she had been sleeping and she started to shake. This person, whoever it was, was her new master now. Would it be the girl from before or a whole other person? The footsteps walked past the door and she slunk down again. After a few moments, she allowed her eyes to slip closed.

The next time Cara's eyes opened, it was because of the growling of her stomach. She hummed a little to herself and scanned the room. Her eyes widened. The room had changed, just a little. The blinds were open a little more revealing the darkening light of the evening and her cage had been moved against the wall. Who- what had happened? She turned around, hoping to see more of the room. She recognized the scent before she saw him. Her breath came out in sharp rasps.

"You know what's interesting?" Klarion sing-sang, stroking his cat as he sat in a large, black chair. Cara nearly needed to do a double take. That chair had most differently not been there before. The smirk on Klarion's face seemed to say it all. _I win._ It said. _You lose._ "Last time we saw each other you were trying to hurt me. And I'm one of your masters now." He never looked up from his cat while he spoke. "What do you think, little Beast? Should a pet be allowed to hurt their master?" He purred. Cara - no, she was Beast again, apparently – looked down quickly, shame welling in her chest. She was going to get punished, she knew it, she could feel it. Klarion looked at her and smiled widely. "Well, Beast, should a pet be allowed to hurt their master?"

Beast quickly shook her head and her body stiffened as an electric shock coursed through her body. Another remote. Well, she huffed a little, there goes that plan.

 **Thank you for all of the reviews!**


	13. Chapter Thirteen

**Hey, guys! Look, another chapter! Thank you Maniac Productions for your excellent beta skills!**

She searched through the room frantically. Where was it? Her holovideo, the device she usually watched _Hello, Megan!_ on, was missing. She threw the blankets off of her bed and even lifted the mattress off of the frame.

"M'gann?" Connor's voice floated through the door into her room. She jolted upwards and her gaze glanced around the room. It was _such_ a mess. An embarrassed smile floated onto her face as she opened the door. Superboy's eyebrow raised as he surveyed her room.

"You lose something?" He asked and she nodded, awkwardly.

My _(that electronic thingy) is missing, I don't know where it is!" She motioned towards the mess. "I was trying to find it."

He nodded, awkwardly. "I'll help you find it later – we have to get to school."

 **.o.O.0.O.o.**

Red hair slung into his face and he rolled his eyes, pushing it back into his face. Absentmindedly, he made a reminder on his phone. He couldn't forget to have Mom cut his hair. Because, honestly, how was he supposed to look his best with this? He slipped the phone back into his pocket, making his way to the cafeteria. It was one of his three favorite times of the day. The cafeteria food was okay, he supposed, but, in all honesty, Superboy could probably cook better (and all he could make was Ramen!).

Unfortunately, before he could make it to the cafeteria, his phone vibrated in his pocket. He pulled the iPhone out and read the text, once then twice.

 _Someone was in your room. Barry's on his way. One thing taken. Plz come home._ –Mom

Wally didn't even bother changing into his extra costume he stored in the crevice of his Gym locker. He was off, as fast as his feet could take him towards his home. As the busy streets of Blue Valley, Nebraska flashed by, he started to slow down. If it was bad enough that he had to be called from school - something his mother hated doing - then it was very, very serious. He squealed to a stop behind his house, ducking into the alley to make sure no one could see him. Carefully, he climbed over the dumpster and into the backyard. His gaze swept around the yard but nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Opening the screen door, he entered the kitchen where his Mom and Uncle Barry were talking animatedly about what Wally could only assume was the break-in. As the door slammed closed behind him, his Mom jumped almost completely out of her seat.

"I don't think anything was taken," His Mom was talking almost as fast as a Speedster, "I looked. I was at the story buying some groceries when I noticed something was different. I went upstairs and your bedroom door was open."

Normally, Wally liked to have his door closed - the rest of the house was cold this time of year, so he kept his door closed and heaters on almost 24/7.

"We were waiting for you," Barry said, "I already scanned the room for anything... bad, but there's no way for us to know if anything was taken if you weren't there. The cameras don't reveal anything. Either the person that entered can turn itself and other things invisible or-" He let the sentence hang in the air.

Wally nodded vigorously, "Okay, what are we waiting for then? I'm here now." Without waiting for a response, Wally ran up the stairs at a not-quite-as-fast-as-I-can-go pace. His gaze swiveled around the room, looking for anything out of the ordinary. Everything was exactly the way that he had left it. Not even his bed was mused. He swung the closet doors open, ignoring the arrival of his Mom and Uncle Barry for a moment.

Eyebrows creasing, he said, "The Flash is gone."

"What?" Barry asked, stepping closer to get a look into the closet as well.

"That action figure you got me when I was, like, five. It's gone. I kept it on the top shelf and well," He shoved a hand to the mostly empty self. The only things on it was a stack of Avengers comics and a box with an extra Kid Flash suit. "It's not there."

His Mom's nose wrinkled in disdain. "Why would anyone want that? And, if they don't know your superhero persona, why would they steal a random kid's doll?"

"Action figure," Wally mumbled under his breath, ruffling through the box to make sure his costume was still intact.

Uncle Barry had a large frown across his face. "Okay, so first your 'souvenirs' from the Mountain are taken, and now your 'action figure'? That doesn't make sense. Why would anyone want that stuff?" Barry was all business now, searching through the closet almost religiously. There's some muddy cat prints. Has Tink been through here recently?"

Wally shook his head, confusion marrying his face. "No, I don't let that cat in here. It likes to eat my bedding. Besides that, how would she get muddy? It hasn't rained for the past two weeks."

Uncle Barry froze for a moment, deep in thought, before exchanging a glance with Wally. "You thinkin' what I'm thinkin', kid?"

A huff broke their attention, "Would someone please tell me what's going on?" Wally's Mom had a deep frown splayed across her face as she stood in the corner of the room, arms crossed tightly in front of her chest.

"Klarion?" Wally offered, throwing a glance at Barry to make sure his guess was correct. He had a pretty good idea he was, but he just wanted to make sure. "Klarion broke into the Mountain recently and took some of my stuff I had collected from previous missions. And, he has this cat-demon, Teekal."

Uncle Barry nodded, "While it could be someone else, Klarion is the most likely suspect for now. I'll call the league. Wally," He stood up from where he had been crouching in the closet and gave a meaningful look to his protege. "Make sure you keep your intercom with you, okay?"

"Course!" Wally rolled his eyes, "I'm not stupid."

Barry gave him a long look, a slight smirk on his face. "Well, there was that one time, you know, with the fire? And-"

"Shut up!" The tips of Wally's ears tinged red. "That was one time, okay?"

 **.o.O.0.O.o.**

Artemis ran a finger over the tip of her pencil eraser, rubbing off some of the pink rubber. Her gaze was aimed towards the window, but she wasn't really looking at the scenery outside of the classroom. Sure, her mom had really wanted for her to go to school her because it was a 'good opportunity' or whatever, but it was so dull. The history teacher droned on, leaning against the whiteboard. His formal, white button up rubbing all over the black marker. A slight smirk fluttered onto her face as he turned around to write something else on the board.

"Ms. Crock," The teacher called out, pointing the tip of his marker at her. Annoyed, she turned from the window.

"Yes?"

"Is there something interesting outside? A parade or circus perhaps?" He capped the marker and wrung his sausages of fingers over them.

"No, sir." She answered back tightly, her mouth twisting into a frown.

The teacher nodded, as if he had won some important battle. "Then please refrain from anything that distracts from the lesson." He turned around again and resumed his lesson. She could only be grateful that this was her last class of the day. She scribbled over her notebook paper until the bell rang. She scrambled through the crowded hallway to get to her locker. The dweeb was there too. She didn't know who he was, just that he was annoying. He met her at her locker everyday, smirk fixed on his face and blue eyes twinkling with some joke.

"Artemis," He sang, raising an eyebrow as he leaned against his locker. She ignored him the best she could as she shoved books into her backpack. A redhead came up, seemingly exasperated with the kid's performance.

"Come on, Dick," The redhead called to the boy, throwing her backpack over one shoulder. The boy frowned, before trotting after her. Artemis could only laugh - if the kid's name really was Dick, it was fitting.

The house was empty, when she got there, so she made herself at home. Checking the clock, she pursed her lips. She only had an hour until patrol with Green Arrow. She maneuvered through the house and through the backpack on her bed. She'd do her homework later. A shiver went through her as a cold wind blew into the room from the... open window.

 _What?_

She was sure that the window had been locked. Someone had broken in - and wanted her to know it. If it was her Dad, he would have stayed to flaunt. That left Cheshire. But why would Cheshire do that? To warn her? Of what? Thoughts swirling through her room, she slammed the window closed and put the screen back up. There, everything looked normal except for the open closet door. She approached it carefully, recalling some of the 'training' her Dad had put her through. Luckily - or maybe it was unluckily, she really wanted to take out some aggression right now - it was empty. Even the back of the closet door, where she kept the old Cheshire poster her sister had gotten after going to an Alice in Wonderland play at school.

Why would someone take that? Cheshire had given it to her when she had left, so why would she come back to take it now, years later? Her phone beeped and she pulled it out.

 _Wally West - incoming call._

 **.o.O.0.O.o.**

"Come on, Barbara! It's fun - she has no idea who I am." Dick cackled, climbing into the back of Barbara's car.

"You're living up to your namesake again." She shot back with a smirk. Richard glowered and kicked her seat. She shot a glare back.

"That's a low blow." He looked out the window for a moment. His phone buzzed and he pulled it out of his pocket. Quickly, he read the Caller I.D.

 _Wally West – incoming call._

He swiped the screen and answered it, ignoring Barbara's curious gaze. "Wassup?"

" _Dude_ ," Wally answered, his voice serious, " _Klarion broke into my house."_

"What? The cameras-"

" _They don't show anything. Uncle Barry and I, we looked around and-"_ Wally paused for a moment and Dick could hear him speed-talking with someone else, presumably Flash. " _Anyway, do you know any other villain that has a cat?"_

A frown swept over his face. The break-in at the mountain and Wally's home had to be related, but how? "Was anything stolen?"

" _As far as we can tell, it's just this little toy I got when I was five. Barry's already on the phone with the JL. I wouldn't be surprised if you got a call from Bats. I'm calling the Team. I talked to M'gann, she says that it doesn't look like anything was stolen, but I asked if she's 'lost' anything, and she said she had – this Martian computer or something. Just, like, search your stuff, okay? If Klarion's stealing something from each of us, well,_ " Wally trailed off slightly.

"That can't be good," Dick nodded, finishing the sentence.

" _Yeah,_ " Wally sighed, " _Maybe it has something to do with whatever happened to Cara, too. The blue flash of light - that must have been Klarion too. I'm going to call Superboy next."_

"I can call Aqualad and Rocket, if it'd help." He offered.

 _"That'd be most appreciated."_

The line went dead and Dick looked up. "Wally had a break-in at his house. We think Klarion's behind it."

Barbara's eyebrows creased as she pulled into the gas station. "Does it have anything to do with the break-in at the Mountain or Cara's disappearance?"

He ran a hand through his hair, dislodging it from its up tight appearance. "It must, I mean, when Klarion got into the Mountain, he only stole 'little' stuff – just like he seems to be doing now. He may have stolen something M'gann brought from Mars too. Wally's calling around."

"Why would he steal 'little' stuff? That doesn't make much sense." She shook her head.

"I dunno," Dick replied, "I'm going to make a few calls myself."

 **.o.O.0.O.o.**

Superboy, or Connor, he wasn't quite sure what the proper name to call himself yet, threw his backpack onto the bed. Homework sucked. He didn't even see the value in it. He didn't learn any more by doing it, so why bother? Rolling his eyes, he opened the drawer to his bedside table. Frowning, he took the pencils out and set them by his backpack. He opened the next drawer, only to find it empty as well. His shirt – where was it?

Unlike what the rest of the team thought, he had kept the shirt that Robin, Wally, and Kaldur had first found him in. But, now it was gone? Where – his phone rang, and he grabbed it, nearly crushing it. Without looking at the caller, he answered.

" _Connor, do you notice anything miss-"_ Wally asked, only to be cut off from Superboy.

"How'd you know? Did you take it?" A slight growl entered his voice. How dare-

" _What? No! M'gann and I – and, well, now you – we believe Klarion's behind it. He broke into my house and took something – not real 'important' but…"_

"Klarion? Does it have anything to do with Cara's disappearance?" Superboy asked, forgetting about his missing shirt momentarily.

 _"We don't know – we're going to have a meeting today – Batman or Robin will contact you for more._ "

Superboy hung up. So other things were missing, but why?

 **.o.O.0.O.o.**

" _Hey, Z,"_ Wally said, " _Has anything gone missing lately?"_

Zatanna pursed her lips, "Wally, what? What do you mean?"

There was a long sigh from the other end, _"Look, Zatanna, Klarion broke into my house and took some stuff. Besides that, I believe that M'gann, Artemis, and Superboy both had something taken as well. I'm calling around to see if-"_

"No, I don't think so. I'm at the Mountain right now though, putting some protective spells on."

" _Oh, okay. Batman's going to contact you later, by the way. We're going to have a 'Team meeting'."_

 **.o.O.0.O.o.**

Cara shivered, her hair still wet. The scrap of fabric lay clasped tightly in her hand. She approached Taskmaster and gave him the cloth, trying to avoid as much touching as she could. The blond man laughed, holding up the green silk. "Good," He said, "You know where to go."

She nodded, stiffly, and crawled back into the cage in the room that was now deemed 'hers'.


	14. NOTE

Hey, guys! It's been a while, huh? (I'm so sorry!) I got distracted but I'm working on the next chapter! Here's a sneak peak! Thank you guys so much for being patient with me!

She knew it was too good to be true – that everything was going to blow up in her face. The moment she had met the Team, the moment that they had let her walk (of her own accord, no less) that they were going to be ripped away. Scrunched up in her cage starring down at her hands as tremors, the results of electrocution, ran through her bones, she remained absolutely silent. Not a sound escaped.

And yet she found herself wanting to scream.

Wanting to yell, roar, cry, _anything_.

But none of that was allowed.

She was back, drowning in the symphony that was silence. But this was better than when someone else was here with her. Approaching footsteps nearly _promised_ pain...

The dull plodding of short, light steps approached and she smelled the musty air. _Lemon drops, steel, and dried paint_ along with the underlying hints of _strawberry and vanilla_. Cara cringed when she realized that the woman that had brought her here was now outside the door. Cheshire swung the door open and glanced around the mostly barren room, eyebrow raised in disgust. "Daddy dearest," Cheshire scoffed, as if the idea was hilarious, "put me in charge of your care."


	15. Chapter Fourteen

**THIS TOOK FOREVER, OH MY GOSH. I'm so sorry. Thank you, Maniac Productions for beta-ing!**

She knew it was too good to be true – that everything was going to blow up in her face. The moment she had met the Team, the moment that they had let her walk (of her own accord, no less), she knew it wouldn't last – that they were going to be ripped away. Scrunched up in her cage, staring down at her hands as tremors _,_ the aftereffects of electrocution, ran through her bones, she remained absolutely silent. Not a sound escaped.

And yet she found herself wanting to scream.

Wanting to yell, roar, cry, anything.

But none of that was allowed.

She was back, drowning in the symphony that was silence. But this was better than when someone else was here with her.

Approaching footsteps nearly promised pain.

But still, this was better than what they had forced her to do. Normally, the politics between old and new owners didn't bother her. Both people, old and new, hurt her. But now, she felt like she was almost betraying her old owners. The dull plodding of short, light steps approached and Cara smelled the musty air. Lemon drops, steel, and old paint along with the underlying hints of strawberries and vanilla.

She cringed when she realized that the woman that had brought her here was now outside the door. Cheshire swung the door open and glanced around the mostly barren room, eyebrow raised in disgust. "Daddy dearest," Cheshire scoffed, as if the idea was hilarious, "put me in charge of your care."

Cheshire paused, looking Cara up and down. "I'm going to let you out-" Cara's head twitched upwards slightly. "-but before you get any ideas, Ivo made a new remote that'll work on your collar. Understand?" Cara nodded.

"Okay, good." Cheshire's eyebrows pulled taut as she unlocked the cage and stepped back, allowing Cara room to move. Cara stayed still in her cage, shoulders hunching forward. Her tail dragging on the metal as she tucked it to her side was the only sound. "Why aren't you getting out?"

Cara's gaze flicked upwards momentarily. "You didn't say to."

"Listen," Cheshire sighed, "If it's just you and me in a room, you don't have to…" She trailed off. "You can use your judgement."

Cara nodded, crawling out of the cage.

"I got you some food." Cheshire took a beige drawstring off of her back. "In case you were hungry." She tossed the bag to Cara who immediately caught it. Carefully, she pulled it open. A couple of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches were put into ziplock bags. Celery sticks and carrots were in separate tupperware Tupperware is a brand name and should be capitalized containers. A strange, bright blue liquid filled a clear bottle. (Was it even safe to drink?) While Cara ate, Cheshire spoke, her silky voice flowing into the room.

"What's your name?" Cheshire leaned back against the wall, lazily.

Cara swallowed a large bite of peanut butter. "I will go by whatever name my mas-"

"No," Cheshire interrupted, sliding down the wall to sit on the floor. "I know for a fact that the League wouldn't do any crap like that. What's _your_ name?"

"Cara." She squeaked.

"With a 'C' or a 'K'?"

Cara, for her part, couldn't see why that mattered. Who cared what her name started with? Still she answered. Her voice, which was normally difficult to understand with the lisp that accompanied her extra set of canines, was even harder to decipher when she was eating too. "C."

"I like names that start with 'C'. Those are the best names." Cheshire purred, a small, playful grin forming on her face. A sheepish grin formed on Cara's own.

"You like peanut butter?" She pointed towards Cara's face.

Cara's tongue flicked out, licking up the stray food. She nodded.

"Typically when two people have a conversation, they both talk to each other." Cheshire pursed her lips, tilting her head towards Cara meaningfully.

Cara frowned, shoving a celery stick into her mouth. "You like green?" She asked, trying it out.

Cheshire's face lit up into a grin. "Random but acceptable." She affirmed. "And yes. It's the favorite color of someone… that's close to me. What about you?" Cheshire asked. "What's your favorite color?"

"Purple. Animal?"

"Cat. You?"

The questions went from one to the other, the answers shooting off. Some were random ("Have you ever read Alice in Wonderland?" Where had that come from?) and others were simply unexpected ("Jade? You have two names?").

Tilting her chin up, Cheshire said, "Since I'm in charge of you, I'm going to relocate you. The Light can do whatever it wants."

Cara finished the blue drink - Gatorade, she had learned. "Do you want me to carry the cage?"

With a laugh, Cheshire shook her head. "I don't think you could carry that."

Cara wanted to point out that she could simply change so she could be able to carry it but she kept silent.

"Besides," Jade continued. "I wouldn't want you sleeping in that…" She raised her eyebrows. "Thing anyway. C'mon."

Cara glanced towards the new cage, a triumphant feeling filling her. The cage was dirty - she had tried to keep it clean. (She was pretty sure they had done that to humiliate her.) Scooping the empty plastic bags and Tupperware into the drawstring, she tugged it over one shoulder.

And, boy, hadn't her day done a whole 360? She had been so… upset (que, _understatement_ ) earlier and now? She was standing inside Jade's own home, dressed in new clothes.

"You're in luck that I have exactly two kitchen chairs." Jade babbled, kicking off her shoes. They had stopped in the middle of nowhere to change. Cheshire, apparently, always kept at least three extra outfits with her. She dropped the drawstring bag on the floor, carefully leaning it against the wall.

"You mind taking the couch?" Cheshire asked, throwing her own duffel onto the ground. Cara glanced up and shook her head.

"I'm going to take a shower. Make yourself at home."

Jade went through one of the doors against the left wall. Cara watched her leave, her eyebrows creased in confusion. Jade was nice… in a weird way. If you left out the fact that she had originally kidnapped Cara.

Cara walked around the abandoned duffel bag into the living room. She crawled onto the overstuffed, ketchup red chair in front of the large television. The sofa didn't quite match the chair. Everything in the small apartment seemed to be mismatched. The casual, homeliness seemed to be confused by the giant, flat screen tv.

The shower came on and Cara glanced towards the noise. Making an executive decision, she grabbed the television remote. The tv Since TV is used as an abbreviation, it should be Capitalized blinked to life, opening onto the image of a yellow square dressed in clothes. Cara blinked, tilting her head to the side.

The scene changed to show a pink star holding a yellow, strange-shaped thing. "Is mayonnaise an instrument?"

Five minutes later, the door Jade had gone through, squeaked open. Cara turned around and smiled sheepishly. "You said to… make my own choices."

Jade nodded, taking a seat on the couch. "Yeah, but you can do a better job than _Spongebob_."

Jade took the remote. "We need to get to bed." She glanced toward an analogue clock. "You sure you're fine sleeping on the couch?"

Cara nodded.

"If you need me," Jade stepped off the couch, moving towards the door from earlier. "I'll be in here."

Cara was out almost as soon as the lights were.

 **The next chapter is going to include a few more hints to the Light's plan *squeals*. Thank you guys so much for sticking around!**


	16. Good NewsBad NewsGood News

So, it's been a while, huh?

I have good news and bad news for you.

Good news: I've finished the story.

Bad news: I had to rewrite the whole thing to get the flow back.

Good news: That means that I've revamped the story and fixed it up. :)

Bad news: It's not going to be on

Good news: It'll be on archiveofourown. My user name is AGMegan101.

(If you have a better suggestion, I'll use it! I'm way bad with titles.)

Ciao!

~ibelieveinmyths


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